The White House has released figures showing that the FY 2016 budget deficit will be $162 billion more than originally projected. That brings the deficit back up to $600 billion after a few years of declining deficits from a high of $1.4 trillion in 2010.

Washington Times:

In March, the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office projected a $534 billion deficit in fiscal 2016, which ends on Sept. 30.

Shaun Donovan, director of the White House Office of Management and Budget, said the new projection is actually $16 billion lower than the $616 billion deficit estimated by the administration in February.

He said deficits are expected to remain below 3 percent of gross domestic product through the next decade.

“Even as the administration made critical investments to support economic growth, it also succeeded in putting the nation on a sound fiscal path,” Mr. Donovan said. “Since 2009 federal deficits have fallen by nearly three-quarters as a share of the economy — the most rapid sustained reduction since just after World War II.”

Under Mr. Obama, the total national debt has climbed to $19.3 trillion; it was about $10.6 trillion when he took office in January 2009.

Mr. Donovan credited the $821 billion recovery act of 2009, the Affordable Care Act and other measures for American businesses adding 14.8 million new jobs since February 2010 and lowering the unemployment rate by more than half.

On what planet does a $600 billion deficit represent a "sound fiscal path"? And that's with the administration catching a break. The economy is so bad that the Federal Reserve has put off raising interest rates, thus saving the government tens of billion of dollars in servicing our $19 trillion debt.

I should add that it takes two parties to make a $600 billion deficit. Neither party is willing to do the tough work necessary to bring any sembalnce of balance to the nation's finances and until both parties get serious about entitlement reform and reining in the power of the federal government, we'll continue to sell our future to feed the present.