Hoyer Says Federal Budget May Not Be Balanced for 20 Years

Tuesday, March 08, 2011
By Matt Cover


House Majority Leader Rep. Steny Hoyer of Md., speaks to supporters at an election night party in Washington, Tuesday, Nov. 2, 2010. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

Washington (CNSNews.com) – House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) said on Tuesday that it may take as many as 20 years to balance the federal budget after years of deficit spending in Washington.

At Hoyer's weekly press briefing on Capitol Hill, CNSNews.com noted that President Obama's latest budget proposal does not balance at any time in the next 10 years and asked Hoyer, "Do you plan on introducing anything that balances within that 10-year timeframe, or is that possible?"

Hoyer said, “Now [that] we’re at $14 trillion in debt, I think the answer is – responsibly – we’re not going to get there [a balanced budget] in ten years, but we have to be on a very considered path to get there, certainly, within the next decade and a half or two decades,â€