Uncle Sam ends fiscal year $1.3 trillion in the red

The government ran a $1.3 trillion deficit for the budget year that ended last month, the third consecutive year it has operated more than $1 trillion in the red. The 2011 budget deficit was the second highest on record. It’s slightly more than the previous budget year’s $1.29 trillion deficit, but below the $1.41 trillion imbalance recorded in 2009. A decade ago, when the government was running surpluses, trillion-dollar deficits seemed unimaginable. But those deficits now loom over tense negotiations in Washington. Lawmakers are under pressure to agree by Thanksgiving on where they can cut $1.2 trillion over the next decade. If they cannot, automatic cuts to Medicare, defense spending and other critical areas of the budget would go into effect in January 2013. Read more about the nation’s budgetary woes from The Associated Press here.