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red states rule
02-13-2007, 09:21 AM
What Happens If a Deficit Falls and Almost No One Reports It?

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U.S. Tax Revenues Up 9.7% Through Four Months, Deficit Down 57%; U.S. Media Outlets Mostly Ignore the news


The Federal Budget Deficit: Bush Benchmark Achieved, Ignored
Filed under: Economy, MSM Biz/Other Bias, MSM Biz/Other Ignorance, Taxes & Government — TBlumer @ 9:02 am
….. and the best may be yet to come.
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A huge point has been virtually if not totally ignored since the announcement on Friday that the reported federal deficit for the fiscal year that ended a week ago was $250 billion — The Bush Administration has done what it said it would do about the deficit three years ago, and has done it a full three years early, i.e., in half the time predicted.

This continues what has been a very difficult past few years have been for those who deride supply-side economics. If Washington, with a little help from the states, lets the supply-side engine continue to chug along for next several years, the results could be so positively stunning that it would become impossible for supply-side detractors in touch with any part of the real world to hang on to the comfort of their static-analysis fantasyland.

But first, let’s recap what has happened in the past three fiscal years:

Tax receipts have soared by over 35% (with 5.5%, 14.5%, and 11.7% increases in fiscal 2004, 2005, and 2006, respectively) from $1.78 trillion to $2.41 trillion (2004 and 2005 results can be found at Page 2 of this PDF from the Congressional Budget Office [CBO]; 2006’s receipts were estimated by adding the $253 billion revenue increase reported near the end of this longer story).
Despite the costs of the Iraq War, the rest of the War on Terror, Katrina relief, and not nearly enough control over other spending, the administration has accomplished its goal of cutting the reported deficit in half by the time it leaves office a full three years early (fiscal 2009, which ends a little less than three years from now, is the last budget over which the Bush Administration will have responsibility). Andrew Taylor of the Associated Press reported on the deficit yesterday (commented on here) but “somehow” missed this little nugget of good news, even though he reported on the administration’s original fiscal 2004 promise in a “not going to happen” manner just under a year ago on October 14, 2005 (last two paragraphs at link) –

The White House has set a goal of cutting the deficit in half from the $521 billion prediction for 2004 that it issued at the beginning of that year. (the original goal was therefore set sometime before October 1, 2003, the beginning of the 2004 fiscal year — Ed.)

The administration says it is still on track to reach that $260 billion goal by the time Bush leaves office. But administration budget projections leave out the long-term costs of occupying Iraq and Afghanistan, and have yet to be updated with cost estimates of hurricane relief.

Even with all of those costs included, the administration has reached its goal. How ’bout that, Andrew?

Economic growth has averaged an annualized 3.89% during the past 13 quarters since the 2003 Bush tax cuts were passed. This is a record that for all practical purposes matches the best seven years of the Clinton administration, but trails the best seven years of the Reagan-Bush 41 and Kennedy Johnson eras, when more aggressive tax cuts were enacted
http://www.bizzyblog.com/2006/10/08/...-more-to-come/

red states rule
02-13-2007, 01:40 PM
This writer at USA today is in big trouble for reporting the good news



Federal deficit shrinks due to record tax collections
Updated 2/12/2007 5:34 PM ET



WASHINGTON (AP) — The deficit for the first four months of the current budget year is down sharply from the same period a year ago as the government continues to benefit from record levels of tax collections.
The Treasury Department reported Monday that the deficit for the budget year that began Oct. 1 totals $42.2 billion, down 57.2% from the same period a year ago.

The amount of revenues collected from October through January were up 9.7% from the same period a year ago, climbing to a record level for the period of $834.1 billion.

Government spending also set a record for the period, but the growth was a slower 2.1%, pushing the total to $876.3 billion for the first four months of the current budget year.

The continued strong growth in revenues reflects the record profits corporations have been recording in recent years and low levels of unemployment, which means more Americans are working and paying taxes.

For the full year, the Congressional Budget Office is forecasting that the budget deficit will shrink to around $200 billion. The deficit for the 2006 budget year, which ended last Sept. 30, was $247.7 billion, the lowest in four years.

In the budget it sent Congress last week, the administration was less optimistic than the CBO about the current budget year, forecasting a deficit of $244.2 billion.

However, the administration's February forecasts have in recent years overshot the actual deficit, allowing the administration to take credit for better-than-expected results.

Bush's budget laid out a plan to eliminate the deficit entirely by 2012, three years after he has left office. But Democrats charged that this was accomplished by not dealing with major issues such as the cost of the war on terrorism beyond 2009 or a fix for the alternative minimum tax.

For January, the government ran a surplus of $38.2 billion. Spending for the month totaled $222.4 billion while revenues totaled $260.6 billion.

Copyright 2007 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Roopull
02-13-2007, 02:23 PM
Having the media report positively on the economy while a Republican is in office is like asking Car & Driver to say something bad about BMW while praising a Chevy. It happens, but it's pretty damn rare.


On the other hand, that friggin' Republican controlled congress said their first priority was fiscal responsibility.:bs1:

5stringJeff
02-13-2007, 05:25 PM
Having the media report positively on the economy while a Republican is in office is like asking Car & Driver to say something bad about BMW while praising a Chevy. It happens, but it's pretty damn rare.

Really? Did you miss the fact that the economy has been doing steadily well since 2003 - under the policies of Bush?

red states rule
02-13-2007, 05:26 PM
Really? Did you miss the fact that the economy has been doing steadily well since 2003 - under the policies of Bush?

and the liberal media ignored and downplayed it