CBO Deficit Projections
Matching the good news on the Jobs numbers along with the report that the Obama Administration just took in a record $181 Million in donations in September, the CBO - at the close of FY2012 - is reporting that the Federal Deficit has dropped another $200 Billion to a level of $1.1 Trillion - which is the lowest level it has been since 2008 when the Financial Crisis began.
The federal government’s fiscal year 2012 has come to a close, and CBO estimates that the federal budget deficit for the year was about $1.1 trillion, approximately $200 billion lower than the shortfall recorded in 2011. The 2012 deficit was equal to 7.0 percent of gross domestic product, CBO estimates, down from 8.7 percent in 2011, 9.0 percent in 2010, and 10.1 percent in 2009, but greater than in any other year since 1947. CBO’s deficit estimate is based on data from the Daily Treasury Statements; the Treasury Department will report the actual deficit for fiscal year 2012 later this month.
Yesterday when the BLS reported that unemployment had dropped below 8% for the first time in 43 months, the overwhelming reaction to this clearly good news from those on the Right was It Can't Possibly Be True.
Of course we shouldn't be all that surprised by this Oh-say-it-isn't-SO! reaction by those on the right because not that long ago they were claiming all the Polls were "Skewed" in favor of Democrats. So why wouldn't they believe that the Job Number are "Skewed" too?
They're already living in a non-factual imaginary world of perpetual grievance, why not one more thing to complain about when the world doesn't fit your looking glass?
I suspect when (or if) this news about the deficit gets out (I didn't see someone else report it, I just happened to visit the CBO site myself this morning and found it), it will be vigorously denied by the Righties. In fact, I Guarantee that it will because while live tweeting the debate I pointed out that Romney was Lying when he said the President Obama had "doubled the deficit" and noted that the deficit had already been going down when I got this response.
What I found from the CBO today is actually an improvement over what I posted above.
The MSM doesn't usually post every little report from the CBO - but this one should be pretty easy to do. It's pretty straight-forward and understandable, and not all that "wonky". Particularly when the reason is because - the economy is improving.
Total Receipts Were Up by 6 Percent in Fiscal Year 2012
Receipts in fiscal year 2012 totaled $2.5 trillion, $148 billion more than those in the same period last year. Compared with collections in fiscal year 2011:
. Net receipts from corporate income taxes grew by $61 billion (or 34 percent), largely because of changes in tax rules in recent years.
. Individual income tax receipts grew by $37 billion (or 3 percent), as wages and salaries grew modestly, pushing up withheld tax payments; nonwitheld tax payments rose as well.
. Receipts from social insurance taxes rose by $32 billion (or 4 percent), reflecting greater withholding for payroll taxes and an increase in unemployment insurance taxes as states continued to replenish trust funds that were depleted by the recession.
. Receipts from other sources increased, on net, by about $18 billion (or 9 percent).
Outlays Were Down by 1.6 Percent in Fiscal Year 2012
Outlays in fiscal year 2012 totaled $3.5 trillion, $59 billion (or 1.6 percent) less than spending in the same period last year. Excluding adjustments recorded in the budget for the estimated cost of credit programs (mainly the Troubled Asset Relief Program), however, the government’s outlays decreased by 2 percent relative to spending in 2011.
By CBO's estimates, outlays decreased for several major categories of spending:
. Medicaid—Outlays fell by $24 billion (or 9 percent) because legislated increases in the federal share of the program’s costs expired in July 2011.
. Unemployment benefits—Spending dropped by $30 billion (or 24 percent), mostly because fewer people have been receiving benefits in recent months.
. Defense—Outlays fell by $19 billion (or 3 percent), after adjusting for timing shifts, in part because of lower spending for military operations in Afghanistan and Iraq.
. Education programs—Net outlays were lower by $29 billion (or 30 percent), excluding changes recorded in the budget for the estimated cost of student loans. That decline has occurred largely because of waning spending from funding provided by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. (Most of that spending occurred before 2012.)
So Jobs and the Economy is Up, the Stimulus is Down. Result? The Deficit is down even more than CBO expected it to be. Their current projection for 2013 is that the deficit will be
just $641 Billion (Otherwise known as the "Half" that President Obama promised it to be by the end of his first term, although that assumes the current law continues to take effect which includes the complete ending of all the Bush Tax cuts, the Payroll Tax Cuts and Drastic Sequestration)
If this gets Reported: I'm certain the whining, denials, and conspiracy theories will be starting in 3...2...1....
Vyan
9:16 AM PT: If you'd like to help get this news out there and see if the MSM notices - be my guest and retweet away.