Oh the places you'll go!

The details of the 2010 budget have been handed over to Congress, and they are indeed mindboggling. Over ten years, the federal government will spend $42 trillion dollars. It will take in $35 trillion in taxes, leaving a $7 trillion deficit. Individual income tax receipts will nearly double, as will corporate tax receits and social security outlays.Medicare and Medicaid will more than double, as will net interest payments on the national debt.

This is...a forecast, of course. If our last presidency was any guide, forecasts aren't exactly FASB compliant.

A look at forecasted outlays vs. actual:

Forecasted receits vs. actual:

A combined picture:

And the resulting deficit:

With these table stakes, let's just hope that past events aren't indicative of future performance, otherwise our credit rating will be on the fast-track to subprime.