Look at that Iraq war figure multiplying at the top of this page and add this news to it.

White House Acknowledges Ballooning Deficit
By Adam Entous

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The White House said on Tuesday the federal budget deficit would balloon to a record $455 billion this fiscal year, after absorbing immediate costs from the war in Iraq, and then climb $20 billion higher in 2004, a presidential election year.

While White House budget director Joshua Bolten acknowledged that widening deficits were "a legitimate subject for concern..."





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