The EU treaty and the US

The new European Union treaty just negotiated today (and still not ratified by the 26 nations - Britain abstained) would impose a cap on the annual structural deficit (eg - the amount any member country can increase its sovereign debt in a year) of 0.5% of that nation's GDP.

If the US were to follow that guideline, with a 2010 GDP of about $14.58 Trillion, we would be limited to increasing the federal debt by no more than about $730 billion per year. The projected US 2011 deficit is about $1,300 billion, so to meet the proposed EU standard, we would need to cut expenditures by AT LEAST $570 billion per year. With this president and this Congress..... lots of luck!