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U.S. posts 19th straight monthly budget deficit

Erod

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U.S. posts 19th straight monthly budget deficit | Reuters

(Reuters) - The United States posted an $82.69 billion deficit in April, nearly four times the $20.91 billion shortfall registered in April 2009 and the largest on record for that month, the Treasury Department said on Wednesday.

It was more than twice the $40-billion deficit that Wall Street economists surveyed by Reuters had forecast and was striking since April marks the filing deadline for individual income taxes that are the main source of government revenue.

Department officials said that in prior years, there was a surplus during April in 43 out of the past 56 years.

The government has now posted 19 consecutive monthly budget deficits, the longest string of shortfalls on record.

For the first seven months of fiscal 2010, which ends September 30, the cumulative budget deficit totals $799.68 billion, down slightly from $802.3 billion in the comparable period of fiscal 2009.

Outlays during April rose to $327.96 billion from $218.75 billion in March and were up from $287.11 billion in April 2009. It was a record level of outlays for an April.

....and now the healthcare plan was "vetoed" because of budget overages that were discovered recently.

Not bad for a year and a half in office, eh?
 
Where did you get that the healthcare plan (reform bill) has been vetoed? Link please because it's not addressed in the linked article nor this one from Yahoo.com News that addressed the deficit issue for April as well.

Here's another article from USAToday.com that further explains the drop in taxes collected for this year.

In a nutshell, tax credits and unemployment = lower taxes collected by the fed. Anyone who's shocked by this news just hasn't been paying very close attention to current events over the last year or two.

Just a quick FYI...I overheard this story initially as reported by Rush Limbaugh and as usually I did my Paul Harvey impression...you know the one..."and now for...the rest of the story". As I figured, there was that one little detail Rush purposely omitted; April is, afterall, tax collection month. And with unemployment still being rather high it does stand to reason fewer taxes will be collected with so many out of work. Still, as you can see from the linked articles, specifically USAToday, the difference in taxes collected this year compared to last year isn't that significant.

I foresee the numbers will continue to be low for the next couple of years. However, unless the economy turns around (within the next 3-5 yrs), I think whoever is President by 2014/15 will have to raise taxes.
 
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In a nutshell, tax credits and unemployment = lower taxes collected by the fed. Anyone who's shocked by this news just hasn't been paying very close attention to current events over the last year or two.
Given that the monthly deficit is twice what economists had predicted, I'd say that a lot of people who have been paying very close attention are a shocked by this.
 
1,500,000,000,000

One trillion, five hundred million.

So - since they're overspending by that much just who has our balls by loaning us all of that money?
 
1,500,000,000,000

One trillion, five hundred million.

So - since they're overspending by that much just who has our balls by loaning us all of that money?

China. They are loaded.
 
devastating

deficits up FOUR HUNDRED PERCENT over april 09

MORE THAN TWICE what was expected

43 of 56 aprils, for reasons spelled out above, produced SURPLUSES

april revenues DOWN TWENTY BIL over last year

4-15 receipts off TWENTY TWO PERCENT compared to 09

remember when the IDIOT in the white house PROMISED to CUT THE DEFICIT IN HALF IN 4 YEARS?

he has no idea what he's saying or doing
 
China. They are loaded.

Actually only 1/3 of our debt is held by foreign countries. American citizens hold another third of that (bonds), and through some slight of hand the government owes itself the other third.
 
and through some slight of hand
As in raiding any excess penny from the social security "surplus" that they can get their grubby fingers on?
 
1,500,000,000,000

One trillion, five hundred million.

So - since they're overspending by that much just who has our balls by loaning us all of that money?

Interestingly enough among many other nations, I believe if you bothered to delve into who owes what, you will find that Canada,The UK, Japan and naturally China have large holdings of US Treasuries, just to mention a few, there are also many other Nations far too numerous to mention here.
 
As in raiding any excess penny from the social security "surplus" that they can get their grubby fingers on?

Uh no, actually by having the Federal Reserve lending us money.
 
In a nutshell, tax credits and unemployment = lower taxes collected by the fed. Anyone who's shocked by this news just hasn't been paying very close attention to current events over the last year or two.
Yesss... but lower revenues, themselves, did not create the increased deficits.

Just a quick FYI...I overheard this story initially as reported by Rush Limbaugh and as usually I did my Paul Harvey impression...you know the one..."and now for...the rest of the story". As I figured, there was that one little detail Rush purposely omitted; April is, afterall, tax collection month
And now, for the rest of the rest of the story...
Taxes are collected all year round. Those that have to pay taxes when filing their returns genrally pay in April, but that's not the same as collecting taxes in general.
 
It should be noted that the U.S. structural budget deficit for 2010 is projected to amount to 9.2% of GDP. Structural budget deficits are those that do not disappear when the economy is in a cyclical expansion. As the stimulus winds down and tax revenue increases from economic growth, the cyclical component of the nation's budget deficits will fall. The structural component will not. In other words, the U.S. cannot "grow" its way out of its fiscal imbalances.

Addressing the nation's structural budget deficits will require unpopular political choices: reduced discretionary spending, mandatory spending reform (including far-reaching health care reform), and tax hikes to cover what cannot be achieved from the discretionary spending cuts/mandatory spending reforms. Unfortunately, there remains an implicit bipartisan consensus that "no immediate fiscal crisis = no fiscal problem." That crises typically result only after problems have festered and grown over a period of time is irrelevant to that bipartisan consensus. Hence, going into the 2010 elections, very few politicians are likely to make credible fiscal consolidation a centerpiece of their campaigns.
 
China. They are loaded.

China only holds around 6% of our debt. All foreign nations combined only have 25%.

[ame=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_public_debt]United States public debt - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia[/ame]
 
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