U.S. Deficit Projected to Reach $9 Trillion

President Obama may soon face a new obstacle to his plan to reform health care: a growing pool of budgetary red ink. The White House Office of Management and Budget and the Congressional Budget Office will release new estimates today on the size of the U.S. deficit. Both agencies are expected to say the deficit will reach $9 trillion over the next decade, which is a $2 trillion increase from previous projections. We speak with Linda Bilmes, Harvard professor of public finance and co-author, with Joseph Stiglitz, of the book “The Three Trillion Dollar War: The True Cost of the Iraq Conflict.”