The Congressional Budget Office predicts the deficit will reach $1.5 trillion this year:

The government’s budget deficit will soar to nearly $1.5 trillion this year, the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office said Wednesday, an anticipated but politically galvanizing calculation that further intensified the partisan battle over the nation’s fiscal future.

The $1.5 trillion deficit projection is $414 billion higher than its previous estimate, in August, and reflects in part the tax cut deal last month between President Obama and Republicans. The deficit was $1.4 trillion in 2009 and $1.3 trillion in 2010.