The federal budget deficit for 2010 is estimated at slightly less than $1.3 trillion, lower than last year's record level, and the second highest since 1945. 

The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) pegs the deficit for the fiscal year, which ended Sept. 30, at about $125 billion below the $1.42 trillion record posted for 2009, CBO said in a release on Thursday. 

CBO estimates that in 2010 outlays declined by $67 billion, and revenues increased by $57 billion. The estimated deficit is about $51 billion lower than CBO projected in August because outlays were lower and revenues were higher than previously expected, according to the report.

Borrowing by consumers declined again in August as credit card balances continued to drop and consumers remained cautious about spending. 

Consumer borrowing fell by $3.3 billion, the 18th drop in the past 19 months, the Federal Reserve said Thursday.

Revolving debt, which includes credit cards, fell by about $5 billion or 7.2 percent from July, notching 24 months of declines, the report said. 

Meanwhile, non-revolving debt, which includes car loans, rose a modest $1.65 billion for the month. 

Nearly one-quarter of executives (22 percent) expect a double-dip recession before the economy begins to significantly recover, and 64 percent believe that recovery will occur in 2012 or later, according to a new KPMG poll. 

House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Sandy Levin (D-Mich.) on Thursday said that tax deferral would likely be addressed when Congress tackles tax reform and that the measures would not be used to offset future legislation. 

The AFL-CIO and its community affiliate group, Working America, on Thursday unveiled a massive database that details companies outsourcing U.S. jobs.

Drawing upon government data, the Job Tracker database lists information on more than 400,000 corporations and subsidiaries that have sent jobs overseas, run afoul of health and safety codes or violated labor law. 

The labor federation used the Freedom of Information Act to request government documents like Trade Adjustment Assistance records, Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act notices and Occupational Safety Health Administration records to come up with the database. Once it was all compiled into the database, the information became searchable for users by company name, industry and ZIP code to show how their neighborhood has been affected by outsourcing.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) on Thursday called for a suspension of foreclosures in Nevada, arguing that loan servicing companies are not handling documents used in the proceedings with "requisite care."

In a letter to the largest servicing companies in the state, Reid said there should be a halt in foreclosures until there are systems in place to verify documents used in proceedings.

"To be sure, a closer review of these documents could lead a servicer to initiate a foreclosure in many cases," Reid wrote. "But I’m concerned about those cases where carefully analyzing a homeowner’s income and debt would lead to the conclusion that a modification is the best solution."

The letter was sent to Ally Financial, Bank of America, Wells Fargo, Citigroup and JPMorgan Chase & Co., Reid's office said.

The letter is the latest effort from lawmakers and advocacy organizations to pressure lenders and other loan servicing companies to review their foreclosure practices.

Rep. Edolphus Towns (D-N.Y.), chairman of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, called Thursday for a national moratorium on foreclosures until banks complete internal investigations into their foreclosure practices.

Towns asked New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo to investigate foreclosure practices by Bank of America, JPMorgan, Ally and other banks doing business in the state.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and 30 House Democrats from California wrote to federal regulators and the Justice Department earlier this week seeking an investigation into the foreclosure practices. The Justice Department said it would begin an investigation.

The NAACP, Center for Responsible Lending, Leadership Conference on Civil Rights, National Council of La Raza and National Fair Housing Alliance on Thursday called for a national moratorium on foreclosures.

Community bankers are asking the Treasury Department to reconsider the federal and state tax-exempt status of credit unions after several were taken over by the government. 

The Independent Community Bankers Association (ICBA) argues bad investments by credit unions have led to the take over of five corporate credit unions by the National Credit Union Administration (NCUA), an independent federal agency, during the past 18 months. 

"The taxpayer bailout of the credit union system should cast doubt on the wisdom and the fairness of their tax-exempt status," said Camden Fine, president and chief executive of the ICBA in a Thursday letter to Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner. 

House Ways and Means Chairman Sandy Levin (D-Mich.) on Thursday said it was unclear how the debate on the Bush-era tax cuts would play out in the lame-duck session. 

"I wish I could prognostic," he said. "I just don't think there's a clear answer." 

The IRS on Friday will hold a hearing on the new mandate requiring professional tax preparers to become licensed for the 2011 tax season. 

The new requirement states that any person who makes money from completing tax returns must register with the IRS, pay a fee and eventually pass competency tests and possibly attend continuing education programs.