WILLisms.com: Trivia Tidbit Of The Day: Part 396 -- Deficit Elimination Draws Nearer Without Any Tax Hikes.

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Trivia Tidbit Of The Day: Part 396 -- Deficit Elimination Draws Nearer Without Any Tax Hikes.

Receipts Continue To Outpace Outlays, Yet Again-

Fiscal Year '07, in Federal Budget terms, is only three months old, a quarter of the way finished. But, just like the past couple/few years now, there is already a marked trend worth noting.

The federal budget deficit is shrinking, as robust tax revenues flow in faster than before the President's tax relief.

Here are the numbers (.pdf):

The government took in $573,524 million in the first three months of FY07, versus $530,210 million in the first three months of FY06. That's an increase of 8.17%.

The government spent $653,925 million in the first three months of FY07, versus $649,592 million in the first three months of FY06. That's an increase of 0.67%.

Indeed, many programs saw actual spending declines over the first three months of FY07, compared to the first three months of FY06. The primary contributors to increased spending were Medicare (by 24,037 million dollars), Social Security (by 8,202 million dollars) and National Defense (by 12,663 million dollars).

Increased spending on just Social Security and Medicare, in other words, was close to three times larger than increased spending on national defense (.pdf):

In the short run, we're doing great. We'll have federal budget surpluses by sometime near the 2008 presidential election (actually, July 2008). Over the long run, however, the picture is not so special.

The entitlement tsunami is headed our way. The first ripples are already evident. We need leadership in Congress to get federal budgets, over the long haul, under control.

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Previous Trivia Tidbit: The Case For A Do-Nothing Congress.

Posted by Will Franklin · 12 January 2007 03:30 PM

Comments

So does this mean providing for our defense in these strange times we live in is less important? Hmmm...

Posted by: zsa zsa at January 12, 2007 04:01 PM

The lower tax rates mean that it is "easier" for people to be fair, report The Truth and pay their share of taxes. The Democrats have no idea what this means. They live in a fantasy world of appropriations and deficits.

Posted by: Chief RZ at January 13, 2007 08:29 AM

Building on Chief RZ's point - even at the U.S.' comparatively low rate of tax evasion, the IRS estimates that it doesn't collect some 16.3% of the taxes levied by the Congress.

That 16.3% figure is from the most recent attempt to measure the so-called "tax-gap" for the year 2001. Since then, the tax code has only grown in complexity, suggesting that the tax gap between taxes levied and taxes paid has grown as well.

Posted by: Ironman at January 14, 2007 07:38 AM

As a Baby Bummer just don't cut any benefits to us. Screw the kids after us, we feed first. Then the X Gen will have the Echo-Boomers to resupply the Ponzi scheme.
It's ok though cause every generation afetr the "Greatest" is just so much of a waste, but we have the votes so bring on the goodies.
The next generations will all be Islamists anyway since we haven't got the guts to fight 'em to their death.

Posted by: Habu1 at January 14, 2007 08:46 PM