It’s still a big gap, but it’s slowly shrinking. The Congressional Budget Office said Tuesday that the annual federal deficit will hit $1 trillion in 2012, making that the fourth year in a row. But the shortfall will be the smallest since 2009, when the government began spending more to help drive the economy out of recession. The 2012 deficit is currently projected at $1.1 trillion, down from $1.4 trillion the previous three years.The CBO predicted that the deficit would fall sharply in 2013 as the Bush tax cuts expire and deep cuts to the Pentagon take effect.
