Pursuit's Take
A comprehensive look at our country’s fiscal health. GAO reports on the federal government’s financial statements, federal debt, budget trends, and federal, state, and local fiscal projections. I sum, GAO determines that there are tough choices ahead for Congress and the American Public. “Reducing the debt and deficit right now is not enough. Spending reductions or revenue increases — likely both — need to be made consistently over the next 75 years to keep debt constant as a share of GDP and address the gap between projected growth in program spending (aside from spending on interest payments) and revenue (known as the “fiscal gap”). If action is delayed, the changes needed will be more significant.”
In addition, GAO challenges that agencies can reduce costs without legislation from Congress. For example, the tax gap exceeds $400 billion (amount collected vs. owed), improper payments in FY2017 totaled $141 billion, and “tens of billion” could be saved if GAO’s recommendations were implemented in select agencies.
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