July 11, 2007 — Congressman Trent Franks (AZ-02) today welcomed the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) announcement that this year’s federal budget deficit will be approximately $40 billion lower than originally projected; an 18% decrease from last year resulting in an overall deficit of less than half of what it was just three years ago.  This places the federal deficit at its lowest level since 2002 and the significant setbacks caused by the tragedy of 9/11.

Congressman Franks stated, “The OMB's report today is perfect evidence of the remarkable growth our economy has experienced over the past several years as a result of allowing Americans to keep more of their tax dollars.  Unemployment remains low, the deficit continues to shrink, and since August of 2003, about 8.2 million jobs have been created.  These numbers should serve as a warning to those in Congress who would ignore this success and implement the democrats' budget containing the largest tax increase in American history.”

The President and the White House’s OMB announced the new figures at 1 p.m. today as part of a midyear fiscal review.  Originally projected to be $244 billion, the OMB says that the deficit will come in at about $205 billion.  According to Bloomberg News, “…The current deficit, at 1.5 percent of gross domestic product, is the lowest since 2002.”  Last week, the government announced that 123,000 jobs were created in June alone.

“We must remain vigilant on behalf of American taxpayers if we are to achieve the goal of balancing the federal budget by 2012,” Franks continued, “Unfortunately, in pushing for an additional $23 billion increase in the President’s budget, Democrats seem blindly committed to abandoning the fiscal responsibility that results in this kind of economic growth.”