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Even as lawmakers and President Trump continued to argue over spending plans for the current fiscal year, the federal deficit grew in the first quarter of the year by $317 billion, according to estimates from the Congressional Budget Office (CBO).

Up until a few days ago it seemed that President Trump was looking to exit the partial government shutdown by redirecting funds for a Mexican border wall through an emergency declaration.

On the latest Facing the Future program, Concord Coalition Executive Director Robert L.

KCUR's "Up to Date" program, hosted by Steve Kraske, featured an interview Tuesday with Robert L. Bixby, executive director of The Concord Coalition. Focus on government shutdown has drawn attention away from expanding national debt and deficit. 

A recent blog post by Robert L. Bixby, executive director of The Concord Coalition, was reprinted by DL-Online. An excerpt: 

Democrats say the Trump administration is asking for more money for a border wall even though it has spent only 6 percent of the funds that Congress has appropriated for border security over the past two years. That’s misleading. About 60 percent has been awarded to contracts. . . . 

Another watchdog group, The Concord Coalition, projects a budget deficit of $973 billion in the current fiscal year . . . 

Don’t look now, but budgetary gridlock on Capitol Hill is about to get worse. So is the deficit.

“It would be nice if, in the long term, we actually paid for the government that we want,” says economist Diane Lim.

WASHINGTON -- With a partial shutdown of the federal government apparently taking effect at midnight, Concord Coalition Executive Director Robert L. Bixby issued the following statement: