Budget deficit to top $1 trillion for 4th straight year

While most political types are tweeting out stories on the Hilary Rosen-Ann Romney flap -- see our OnPolitics post -- several Republicans are trying to spotlight another story.
The federal budget deficit is on track to top $1 trillion for a fourth straight year.

The Treasury Department said this week that the deficit for March -- the halfway point of the fiscal year -- totaled $198.2 billion; for the half-year, the total deficit stands at $779 billion, though that is down 6.1% from this time last year.

The Congressional Budget Office forecasts a deficit of $1.17 trillion for the 2012 budget year that ends Sept. 30 -- again, an improvement from last budget year's red ink of $1.3 trillion.

Obama and aides say much of that deficit results from George W. Bush-era tax cuts; they say Republicans are blocking their efforts to close the deficit because they oppose higher taxes on wealthy Americans.

GOP lawmakers such as House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, are tweeting out an Associated Press story on new deficit numbers.

The AP reports:

Democrats and Republicans are offering voters stark choices on how they would deal with the country's budget problems.
The budget approved by the House late last month calls for deep cuts in Medicare and other programs and a new round of tax cuts that would most benefit wealthy Americans. Obama has called that "thinly veiled social Darwinism" and a radical vision for the country.
Obama's budget request in February called for $4 trillion in deficit reduction over the next decade, through spending cuts and tax hikes on the wealthy. Republicans have rejected the tax increases. They want deeper cuts in government programs.
The House-passed budget has no chance of winning Senate approval, setting the stage for gridlock until after the November elections.
The government last recorded a surplus in 2001. The deficits returned after President George W. Bush won approval for broad tax cuts, pushed a major drug benefit program for seniors and launched wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.
The deficits grew further under Obama as the Great Recession reduced tax revenue as unemployment rose and income fell. The budget gaps have topped $1 trillion in each of his first three years in office. Obama and Democrats pushed for more emergency spending to support the economy, including extending federal unemployment benefits and cutting Social Security taxes.