Obama administration has pledged to cut the deficit that they have inherited since they moved into office to half by the end of their first term in office. This is a public and quite an ambitious pledge looking at the deficit which happens to be of 1.3 trillion dollars. This deficit, the biggest in the history of United States, is supposed to rise further with the President’s new investments plan.

With a total debt of 10.8 trillion dollars, 6.5 trillion dollars out of it are what the government owes to the public who have bought government bonds etc. The other part of the debt is what the Treasury owes to the Social Security System. Moreover, this $10.8 trillion debt doesn’t include the debt which is being added because of the President’s rescue plans for the economy.

The total debt goes up when the federal government spends more than it collects. This total debt is rising so quickly that the national debt ceiling has been changed to $12.1 trillion from $11.3 trillion. This ceiling, which determines the amount that the treasury can spend, can be moved if required.

It will become clearer on how Obama wishes to reduce the deficit when he submits his budget request to Congress. Obama’s pledge is a difficult one to complete and one time can tell how successful he will be in this endeavor.