Deficits in the range of US$400 billion would be very close to the all-time high imbalance, in dollar terms, of US$413 billion set in 2004 during Bush's first term. Many private economists are forecasting that the deficits this year and next will surpass the 2004 record in large part because they believe the country is heading into a recession.
Stanley Collender, a budget expert with Qorvis Communications, a Washington consulting firm, said it is very likely that the next budget year will begin with the government operating on a short-term spending measure. In that scenario, Democrats, unable to enact their spending priorities over Bush's vetoes, would mark their time hoping the country will elect a Democrat to succeed Bush.
The US$3 trillion Bush's proposes spending in 2009 would be the first time that milestone has been reached. Bush also presided over the first budget to hit US$2 trillion, in 2002. It took the government nearly 200 years to reach the first US$1 trillion budget, which occurred in 1987 during the Reagan administration.
