Tough Times Ahead for Next President

Are the US Presidential candidates building castles in the air? If reports are to be believed, the countless promises they have made regarding health care and other issues are going to be really difficult to implement. The reason being that in present day US, the budget deficit is rising, tax collection is slowing down and the national debt is soon going to cross the $10 trillion mark.

Not just this but even the federal deficit is estimated to reach a record high of $400 billion by the end of this fiscal year. If nothing is done as regards policy changes, then the promised Medicaid and Medicare programs are likely to gulp down over 50 percent of federal spending till 2050. 

The Tax Policy Center recently conducted an analysis of the tax proposals made by Sen. Barack Obama, the Democratic presidential nominee. It was found that his demands would go on to decrease the federal revenue by an estimated $900 billion, only in his first term. This excludes some of his more expensive proposals like the one to remove the gap in Medicare coverage for prescription drugs which is likely to cost over $400 billion over a time period of ten years. Also excluded is the idea of insurance for the uninsured that is funded by the government. This is likely to cost about $65 billion per year.

 The Republican presidential nominee, Sen. John McCain is also on the high horse when it comes to promises. His proposals are estimated to reduce federal revenue by over $1.1 trillion right in his first term. With such extravagant promises, it remains to be seen who will win the race for the White House, Obama or McCain?