, Columnist
Congress Dawdles on America's Unsustainable Path
Congress holds hearings but does nothing to correct the unsustainable path of the U.S.'s federal financnes.
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"I'm very pleased to be back here," said Douglas Elmendorf, director of the Congressional Budget Office, in his opening statement to the House Budget Committee today. "What part of 'unsustainable' don't you understand?"
OK, he didn't ask that question, but he might as well have. Elmendorf, along with other budget experts, have been warning that federal spending and revenue are on an unsustainable path; that unless Congress makes major changes to entitlement programs and income tax rates, the debt held by the public will reach 100 percent of gross domestic product in 25 years, more than at any time since the end of World War II. That path "cannot be sustained," Elmendorf said.