The U.S. Federal deficit is anticipated to hit a record of $1 trillion in 2009, which U.S. President-Elect Barack Obama hinted at during a Monday news conference. The anticipated $1 trillion deficit comes amidst a devastating global financial crisis, and a year after the federal deficit hit a record $455 billion in fiscal 2008. The deficit also comes as the U.S. government has taken dramatic actions to restore stability to the financial markets. During the news conference, Obama said “we're going to see a substantial deficit next year, bigger than we've seen in a very long time.” But, he also stressed that “we've got to first focus on getting the economy back on track. We've got to first focus on making sure that we're creating those 2.5 million jobs.” The government recorded surpluses in the fiscal years 1998 through 2001. But, once U.S. President George W. Bush took office, and took on the costs of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks plus the tax cuts he pushed through Congress, Bush took the $127 billion surplus he inherited from former U.S. President Bill Clinton and turned it into a $159 billion deficit the following year. Then wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and more tax cuts increased the deficit to $413 billion in 2004, a record until $454.8 billion for the fiscal 2008 year. The White House Office of Management and Budget in July estimated the 2009 deficit at $482 billion, which does not account for the possible long-term losses from loans and investments made under the $700 billion financial rescue plan enacted in October of 2008. The Congressional Budget Office put the deficit in October, the first month of fiscal 2009, at $232 billion. The figure included $115 billion in bank stock purchases the Treasury Department made as part of the financial bailout.
