So How Big Was the Deficit Just Last Month?
[Guest post by Aaron Worthing; if you have tips, please send them here.]
Via Glenn Reynolds we learn that last month’s deficit was larger than the deficit was in all 2007. That is right, in one month—the shortest month of the year—we racked up more additional debt than the entire year of 2007.
From the Washington Times, today:
The federal government posted its largest monthly deficit in history in February at $223 billion, according to preliminary numbers the Congressional Budget Office released Monday morning.
From the Wall Street Journal, 2007:
The Congressional Budget Office estimated Friday that the U.S. federal budget deficit for fiscal year 2007, which ended Sunday, was about $161 billion, or 1.2% of gross domestic product. That’s down from the $248 billion shortfall recorded in fiscal 2006, which translated into 1.9% of GDP. The Treasury Department will report the official tally later this month.
And bear in mind, we aren’t talking about the debt, but the deficit. That isn’t how much we owe, but how much we have added to how much we owe.
So clearly Glenn is a racist, right?
Update: It is wrong and baseless to call Glenn a racist. But on the other hand, IMAO long ago exposed the ugly truth about the man.
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P.S.: Mr. Reynolds, that uptick in hits on your website right now? We call that a Pattericolanche!
[Posted and authored by Aaron Worthing.]
The February deficit is sixty times larger than the budget cuts the brave Democrats have offered.
Blue Ox (ff919a) — 3/7/2011 @ 2:01 pmwe’re a food stamp nation in a ruth’s chris world
This will not end well.
happyfeet (a55ba0) — 3/7/2011 @ 2:12 pmUmmm … given the significance of RICO in Mr P’s world, perhaps, instead, we should refer to a Pattalanche ???
Alasdair (e7cb73) — 3/7/2011 @ 2:20 pmAs someone else noted, the FEB ’11 deficit almost equals all that we have spent in Afghanistan since 2003.
JD (306f5d) — 3/7/2011 @ 2:46 pmYou can’t write this stuff …
Barack Obama told Americans Saturday in his Weekly Address,
Today we get the worst deficit for a February, evah .. $261 billion .. Bush had years that were better. Meanwhile, there is a fight over $60 billion in cuts to a $3.4 trillion budget as being … pick your own hyperbole … and Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. told Congress last week that the way out is to “give each ghetto kid an iPod and a laptop” (both probably made in China).
Like I said, you can’t write this stuff.
It’s time for Barack Obama to man-up. We don’t need a king, brewmiester-in-chief or other useless figurehead. We need a leader. If he can’t do it, he should resign … and so should ever other politician in line of succession until we find one who can lead us.
Bill Maher (03e5c2) — 3/7/2011 @ 3:32 pmWait the budget deficit for the entire fiscal year was 161 Billion dollars? Yet we had a 220 billion dollar deficit in February alone? What is going on with the WSJ?
eaglewingz08 (74f660) — 3/7/2011 @ 4:09 pmBarack Obama is an execrable president. I feel very badly for all you Americans what will have to deal with the aftermath of his incompetence. I wish I knew what I could do to help except for I can make rice krispie treats and my sister taught me if you use the pink marshmallows the rice krispie treats will be pink, which is festive. Also you can dip them in melted white chocolate but you need a “double boiler” and I don’t have one but you can get them at Target. But even with festive pink rice krispie treats your quality of life is not going to be anywhere near what it could have been for many many years because of Barack Obama’s horrific mismanagement of your little country’s fiscal affairs.
happyfeet (a55ba0) — 3/7/2011 @ 4:26 pmBill
he has said that repeatedly. i get the feeling he is not sincere.
Aaron Worthing (73a7ea) — 3/7/2011 @ 4:29 pmLet’s do the math. If we had let all of the 2001/2003 tax cuts expire (not just the cuts for the top producers), we’d be talking about $544 billion over two years, or $272 billion a year. The total costs for the wars in both Iraq and Afghanistan for FY2011 is projected to be $171 billion. Total federal debt service costs were $185 billion for FY2010. (I couldn’t find the FY2011 estimate.) The projected FY2011 deficit is $1,645 billion. If we eliminated all of the Bush tax cuts, if we zero out the debt service (that’s for all of our debt, not just the part accumulated under President Bush), and don’t consider the costs of the wars, $1,645B – $272B – $185B – $171B = $1,088 billion. In words simple enough for even liberals to understand, our deficit would be over a trillion dollars even if all of the things they blame on President Bush aren’t considered!
The Dana who can do the math (5a4fb2) — 3/7/2011 @ 5:32 pmWell, I had a comment disappear into the moderation or spam queue, but the gist of it — with numbers and sources — is that if we eliminated everything our friends on the left blame on President Bush (the tax cuts, all of the national debt service, and the costs of both wars) our FY2011 anticipated deficit would still exceed a trillion dollars.
You can see the numbers and links here.
The Dana who with too many links (5a4fb2) — 3/7/2011 @ 5:35 pmThe $60B in cuts the Dems are screaming about don’t equal even 1/3 of the deficit for February!
AD-RtR/OS! (4bbe00) — 3/7/2011 @ 6:54 pmThe Dems say we can’t “afford” to cut more than $6B!
Well, $6B sounds like a good start….
PER WEEK!
THIS YEAR!
Well said, Dana, the reality is that Obama and the Democrats have destroyed our nation’s finances with the pathetic excuse of blaming Bush.
SPQR (26be8b) — 3/7/2011 @ 7:32 pmSPQR
We are not destroyed – America is bigger than Barack – I strongly feel people will feel the pain and this is the correction we have been needing since WWII that will right th cart back onto the track of self reliance and hard work
People over seas talk about going to America with that look in their eyes the hope the yearning that we had before the nanny state.
No one talks about going to China or India
EricPWJohnson (7f225a) — 3/7/2011 @ 7:43 pmthat was before Charlie Sheen got fired though
happyfeet (ab5779) — 3/7/2011 @ 7:55 pmEricPWJohnson, there is no correction going on with respect to the Federal budget.
SPQR (26be8b) — 3/7/2011 @ 8:03 pmWhy can’t we simply recycle the 2007 budget?
If spending levels were at 2007 levels, we would have a surplus.
Michael Ejercito (64388b) — 3/7/2011 @ 8:15 pmI heard today something about 110 billion (or so) a year for implimentation of ObamaCare buried in the bill we “needed to pass to find out what was in it”. Apparently Michelle Bachmann called this move “gangster-like” or some such and is trying to get it stricken/zero funded/ or something. If this is true it sgould be easy to cut 100 billion from the budget.
In addition/on the other hand/being serious/being lighthearted (take your pick), this sounds like a set up for a Johnny Carson punch-line. Maybe we should have the First Ever Johnny Carson Memorial “Just How Big Is It?” contest.
My (first) entry:
MD in Philly (3d3f72) — 3/7/2011 @ 8:19 pmIt is sooooo big, that even President Obama’s arrogance is dwarfed by it.
Comment by AD-RtR/OS
MD in Philly (3d3f72) — 3/7/2011 @ 8:22 pmI heard one Repub (don’t remember who) say the idea was to cut 6 billion every time the budget was extended 2 weeks, hence on a ~100 billion/year pace.
On this Usenet thread, some of the usual leftists continue to trot out President Reagan in order to deflect attention away from the current financial situation.
What was the highest annual deficit under Reagan?
What was the highest annual deficit under Obama?
What was the highest annual deficit per GDP under Reagan?
What was the highest annual deficit per GDP under Obama?
Michael Ejercito (64388b) — 3/8/2011 @ 8:29 am