Budget Deficit, Trillion | featured news

The federal government recorded a $1.3 trillion budget deficit in fiscal 2011, the same as the previous fiscal year, the Congressional Budget Office said.

A Republican plan for the 2012 budget would cut more than $4 trillion over the next decade, more than even the president s debt commission proposed, with spending caps as well as changes in the Medicare and Medicaid health programs, its principal author said Sunday.

Administration estimates record-setting amount will drop to $1.3 trillion in 2011; Obama's proposed $3.8 trillion budget focuses on economy.

The US budget deficit more than tripled to a record $1.4 trillion in the year to 30 September, the US Congress estimates.