Economy Alarm: Federal Budget Deficit Hits Record High on Obama’s Watch
Federal Budget Deficit Hits Record High on Obama’s Watch
U.S. Posts 19th Straight Monthly Budget Deficit
Democrats Once Promised to Restore Fiscal Discipline and Tame Exploding Deficits
“With the recovery package, we not only created jobs – about 2 million saved or created with more being rolled out – but pulled us back from the brink of even deeper recession. In his [President Obama’s] budget, which we passed one hundred days after his swearing-in, he had a blueprint for how we go into the future, create jobs, stabilize the economy [and] do so as we reduce the deficit – [it’s] very central to everything we do – reduce the deficit.” (Matt Cover, “Pelosi Says Jobs ‘Permeated’ Congressional Actions in Year of 10 Percent Unemployment,” CNSnews.com, 1/25/2010)
“The only thing certain is that Obama is on track to boost a federal debt that stands at $10.7 trillion. Clearly mindful of that, Obama said: ‘We will need to do everything in the short term to get our economy moving again’ as well as ‘begin restoring fiscal discipline and taming our exploding deficits over the long term.’” (“Obama: Stimulus lets Americans claim destiny,” Associated Press, 2/17/2009)
Credibility Crash: Thanks to Democrats’ Reckless Spending Spree, the U.S. Reaches Its Highest April Budget Deficit On Record
The U.S. posted its largest April budget deficit on record as receipts declined in a month that typically sees an increase in individual income tax payments.
The excess of spending over revenue rose to $82.7 billion last month compared with a $20.9 billion gap in April 2009, the Treasury Department said today in Washington. It was the second April deficit since 1983 and exceeded the median forecast in a Bloomberg News survey.
April marked a record 19th straight monthly shortfall, highlighting the challenges facing the Obama administration. Deterioration in the government’s balance sheet in coming years raises the risk of higher interest rates even as an improving economy helps lift tax receipts.
“With the recovery in place, we should be seeing higher revenue and lower outlays, not the other way around,” said Win Thin, senior currency strategist at Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. in New York. For the deficit as a share of gross domestic product to decline this year, “we need to see some improvement in coming months,” he said.
The government’s April budget deficit compares with a median forecast of $57.9 billion, according to a Bloomberg survey of 30 economists. Projections ranged from deficits of $20 billion to $90 billion.
The last time the U.S. had back-to-back April deficits was 1963-1964. The government has reported budget surpluses in 43 of the past 56 Aprils. For the fiscal year that began in October, the budget deficit totaled $799.7 billion compared with $802.3 billion during the same period last year. (Vincent Del Giudice, “Budget Deficit in U.S. Widened to $82.7 Billion,” Bloomberg, 5/12/2010)
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