Deficit watch 7/23/2010

Via Doug Mataconis, these are some grim numbers:

The federal budget deficit, which hit a record $1.4 trillion last year, will exceed that figure this year and again in 2011, according to a White House forecast released Friday.

The $1.47 trillion budget gap predicted for 2010 represents a slight improvement over the administration’s February forecast. But the outlook for 2011 has darkened considerably, primarily due to a drop in expected tax receipts from capital gains.

Doug writes:

I start to sound like a broken record when I say this, but it’s true, this is simply unsustainable.

Remember when a billion seemed like a big number? One trillion is a whole lot bigger. Closing this gap will take higher taxes and some steep spending cuts. It’s coming, whether or not we want to talk about it.