August 11, 2007
WHAT SHALL WE DO WITH THE SURPLUS:
Record revenues drive down federal budget deficit (JEANNINE AVERSA, August 11, 2007, THE ASSOCIATED PRESS)
The federal deficit this budget year is running sharply lower, driven by record revenues pouring into government coffers.The Treasury Department reported yesterday that the government produced a deficit of $157.3 billion for the budget year that began Oct. 1.
It's remarkable enough to be running a balanced budget in the abstract, but staggering in the context of the deficits that London ran to defeat Napoleon and Washington ran to beat Nazism and Communism. Beating Islamicism is dirt cheap. Posted by Orrin Judd at August 11, 2007 8:34 PM
The deficit for fiscal year 2007 (Oct 1 -- Sept 30)will be about 1.5% or even a bit lower.
That's well below the 45-year average which is about 2.2%.
Going back further, in WWII we ran large deficits in comparison to GDP. 1944 for example was 30% of GDP I believe.
Posted by: Kurt Brouwer at August 11, 2007 11:28 PMAs nice as all that is, the fact remains that we are still peeing money away by the bucket load.
Further, none of this will inure to the benefit of Republicans, who have lost credibility on spending. Their advantage on taxation has been eroded by the fact that only 40% of the top earners provide the lions share of the income tax.
The next "crusade" shouldn't be about the size of government or about tax cuts, but about the honesty of government and just how much of state, fed, and local is wasted by corruption and a class of pension pigs.
We can't fund the inspection of bridges or the rebuilding of NOLA if we are funding a corrupt class of government officials at every level.
Posted by: Bruno at August 12, 2007 9:14 AMWe've already funded them. If the funds were siphoned off to augment the life styles of the seriously corrupt and voters keep re-electing self-same, not much, other than martial law, can keep it from continuing.
Posted by: erp at August 12, 2007 9:43 AM