Analysts: Future Budget Outlook Gloomy« Thread Started on May 22, 2004, 11:45pm »--------------------------------------------------------------------------------From The Associated Press, 12/20/03:http://abcnews.go.com/wire/Politics/ap20031220_53.htmlAnalysts: Future Budget Outlook GloomyAnalysts Find Future Budget Outlook Gloomy Even With Higher Taxes,Spending RestraintWASHINGTON --Keeping the federal budget at or near balance over the next 50 yearscould require painful tax increases, spending cuts or both, theCongressional Budget Office says.In a look at the government's long-term budget outlook, Congress'nonpartisan fiscal analyst offered possible combinations of tax andspending changes, all of which would leave lawmakers choosing amongpolitically unpalatable options.Even so, some still would leave the government in fiscal peril.Yet, failing to act would drive the accumulated federal debt tounsustainable levels, said the study, released Friday."Taken to the extreme, such a path could result in an economiccrisis," including the possibilities that foreign investors would pullout, the dollar's value plunge, interest rates and prices soar andstock markets collapse.