WASHINGTON, Feb. 12, 2008
2008 U.S. Budget Deficit Bleeding Red Ink
First 4 Months Of Budget Year At Nearly $88B, Double Amount Recorded For Same 2007 Period
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The federal budget deficit is running at a pace that is more than double last year's imbalance through the first four months of the budget year, Tuesday, Feb. 12, 2008. (CBS/AP)
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In Session
Democrats bask in newfound power as 110th Congress convenes.
In its monthly review of the government's finances, the Treasury Department said Tuesday that the budget was in surplus in January, but totals $87.7 billion so far this budget year, double the $42.2 billion imbalance recorded during the same period in 2007. The new budget year started last Oct. 1.
The Bush administration sent its final budget request to Congress last week, projecting that the deficit for all of 2008 will total $410 billion, very close to the all-time high in dollar terms of $413 billion in 2004.
So far this year, federal spending is 8.3 percent ahead of last year's pace, at $949.1 billion. That is far ahead of the 3.2 percent increase in revenues, which have totaled $861.4 billion in the current budget year.
For 2007, the budget deficit totaled $162 billion, a five-year low. However, the slowing economy is expected to stunt the growth of tax revenues while the $168 billion economic stimulus plan passed by Congress last week will swell the deficit.
It is hoped the stimulus plan will keep the economy out of a recession or at least make the downturn milder and shorter than it otherwise would have been. The rebate checks are expected to start being mailed out in May with most Americans getting checks of $600 for individuals and $1,200 for couples filing their tax returns jointly. In addition, families with children will get an extra $300 per child.
For January, the surplus totaled $17.8 billion. That was down from a January 2007 surplus of $38.2 billion. The government's books are often in surplus in January because it is a month when many individual taxpayers make a quarterly estimated payment.
While the administration is projecting that the deficit for the current 2008 budget year will total $410 billion and decline only slightly to $407 billion in 2009, it projects a significant improvement after those years.
Bush's budget said that the president's goal of getting the budget back into balance in 2012, three years after he leaves office, is still achievable, forecasting a balance that year of $48 billion.
However, private forecaster have termed the administration's deficit projections unrealistic.
Goldman Sachs economists said last week that they had boosted their deficit forecast for this year to $425 billion and to $440 billion in 2009, reflecting the stimulus package.
©MMVIII The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
We have barely started the year. Wait until the trillion dollar bill gets pass on the thieves in Congress and the Senate. The U.S. Budget Deficit is going to have massive hemorhage out the ying yang.
A Democratic administration will be taking over in January.
Posted by mcv57
It wouldn''t be an issue if the thief in the White House didn''t bomb away the surplus that your so called "thieves" in congress and senate left behind.
The Bush Budget Deficit Death Spiral
Lenders talk about a %u201Cdebtor%u2019s death spiral.%u201D It occurs when borrowers get so far in over their heads they begin borrowing money just to cover the interest payments on past borrowings. The borrowers have to do this to keep the lending flowing but they can no longer plausibly pay down the principal. As new debt compounds on old, bankruptcy becomes imminent. Further lending is foolhardy. Foreclosure is only a matter of time.
The U.S. is starting to look like it is entering just such a death spiral. It is foretold not simply by the large and growing deficits, nor by the fact that their carrying costs will rise quickly as interest rates rise. Rather, it is the fact that these trends are becoming irreversible, a structural part of the U.S. economy.
The budget isn''t the only thing bleeding on the Bu$h watch...
Posted by inventagod
The sad truth, the troops don''t realize they are being exploited by a big oil and criminals in the White House. They actually think they are protecting us, can you imagine that.
Which do you think is most likely, given the American people''s character, especially our recent immigrants? I''m guessing we will inflate the currency by some 50 times to negate the debt, which is in effect the way of going bankrupt. A cheap, easy solution, for a cheap, immoderate nation.
As has been said often enough, it must be remembered that the Great Emperor Bush comes from a mega-wealthy family who doesn''t know what a budget is, let alone know how to balance one. To the Great Emperor Bush II or ANY member of the Bush family, balancing a budget is comparable to nuclear physics! This is even more relevant to the Great Emperor who flunked math while in the 3rd grade and has never taken a math course since!
At any rate, the Great Emperor is sending his new budget to Congress which is loaded with huge deficits, "Ferengi economics" and smoke and mirrors galore. The Great Emperor is confident that the spineless Congress will pass the budget without a fight, as usual!
SIG HEIL, BUSH!!!!
The first solution would take us 300,000 years with depression economic condition; and the second option ... well Russia renaged.
Posted by rmt3115 at 05:17 PM
Oh yea, perhaps if we gather in a circle and hold hands and pray the good lord will forgive us our red ink.
*LOL*
Enough of this so-called "conservatism" because all it REALLY is amounts to social bias against certain minorities and that wonderfully distracting tool of WAR. It has nothing to do with fiscal conservation or responsible and fair social policy. Enough.
Time for a change.
That''s the essence of it, correct? The President and Congress have cut revenue (taxes) far too much to cover their spending. And now there''s a "stimilus" tax refund soon to be leaving the Treasury.
Is there any non-partisan, business logic that can explain to me that this is a good thing?
How are we the voters to respond to this? Can our votes do anything at all, or is the government entirely co-opted by those who might gain by a bankrupting this highest institution?
What disaster his Republican party has wrought for the American people and the world. Their corrupt free spending habits have wasted more money than any government in our nation''s history. After almost eight years we have a worthless dollar and record deficits and nothing to show for any of it but endless war, 30,000 dead or wounded service women & men.
This stimulas package is a band aid treatment for our economy. The damage is already done. So much for fiscal responsibility by the Bush Administration. The federaly deficit has increased by at least 57% during President Bush''s term in office. Do the math.
Who ever the next president is, he or she will have the greatest challenges any new president will ever have to face in American History. Lets hope he or she can turn things around.
Sorry folks but the deficit is really easily twice the $440B per Comptroller General David Walker. How does he know? He is also head of the GAO and it is their business to know these things. Walker also mantains that our overall debt is really twice the $9.5 T which is public.
The middle class and poor need to conserve more for the conservatives. ROFL
First 4 Months Of Budget Year At Nearly $88B, Double Amount Recorded For Same 2007 Period
But the "surge" is working
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Posted by HSinCO at 06:32 PM : Feb 12, 2008
If you notice on these posts, all the republicans are blaming it on Bill Clinton, rofl!
And then they brag about the great Reagonomics or trickle down economics, rolf!
And then when that doesn''t work, they claim there''s an Islamic jihadist behind every tree in your yard and that we need to send all our money to Iraq to fight terrorism! rofl
And when that doesn''t work, the Russians are going to bomb us.
And when that doesn''t work, the Iranians are going to bomb us.
And when that doesn''t work, they making up statistics about abortion claiming we''re all killing our babies and they neeg to legislate our morality!
And of course now that Venezuela is refusing to sell Exxon/Mobil any more oil...they''ll have to charge more for what''s in their reserve storage tanks, tsk tsk folks...
It''s everybody''s fault but the republican NEOCONS!
want four more of the same vote for these idiots again
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Posted by lowell43 at 06:19 PM : Feb 12, 2008
+ report abuse
You are so right... we have handed Democrat''s some Horrible messes in the past but this may well be the worst of them all. The depth and magnitude of this is breath taking. How ONE Man and ONE Party can take a nation with a BALANCED BUDGET and a Surplus and turn it into this is beyond belief. All they had to do was LEAVE it alone... The system Rubin had in place was working like a fine watch. But no they had to YET AGAIN try the "Trickle Down" idea....
Cost of Iraqi war: $275 million per day TIMES 365 days TIMES 100 years = Bush legacy.
Most important cost of Iraqi war:
Total Fatalities:
Operation Iraqi Freedom: 3,951
Operation Enduring Freedom: 478
(Updated February 13, 2008)
... TIMES today''s casualty count by 100 years = Bush legacy.
A vote for McCain is a vote for MORE OF THE SAME.
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by lochlan-2009
February 13, 2008 12:33 PM PST
- Just a large bunch of thieves in D.C. today. Why rob a bank when you can become a politician and steal more money then any bank holds in their vaults?
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