Budget deficit on pace to hit $1.3 trillion

WASHINGTON (AP) — The federal government is on track to record the second-highest deficit of all time with one month left in the budget year.

The Treasury Department says that through August, the deficit totaled $1.26 trillion. That’s down 8.1 percent from the same period in 2009, when the government recorded a record $1.4 trillion deficit. But it is on pace to total $1.3 trillion — the second-largest deficit on record.

Soaring deficits have become a major issue with voters heading into the midterm elections. Republicans have highlighted the deficits to illustrate how government spending is on the rise under Democrats.