Our nation's budget deficit is now $867 billion and in 2022 will exceed
one trillion dollars. I can't even
count that high!
US budget deficit climbs 27% to $867 billion in first 10 months of fiscal year
abcnews.go.com
I wanted to talk about this - because it's shocking and important. But I wanted to do so without hearsay or opinion; just facts. Here are the facts
I've taken the graph of government outlays vs. revenues (from the CBO), and overlayed the following: presidential terms, recessions (R)/expansions (E), and unemployment. I've also drawn arrows (>) that show the trends during economic expansions.
During most of the Reagan, Clinton and Obama presidencies, the trend markers make an arrow pointing right; that is, Outlays decreasing and Revenues increasing. It's most evident with the Democratic admins of Clinton and Obama (Clinton had the only budget surplus). It's not as good with Reagan, because his tax cuts for the rich (trickle-down economics) caused revenue to nearly flatline. GW Bush had a different problem; revenues increased, but so did outlays - due to starting 2 wars, establishing the dept of Homeland Security, and mailing every US citizen a $200 check.
Getting to the present day, there's a long economic expansion starting shortly after Obama takes office, combined with a fiscally responsible reduction in government spending - although starting from a high point due to the bailouts and such. Once we get to the current admin, we see that unemployment continues to drop, indicating that the expansion is still underway. However, both indicators are going the wrong way; Revenues are falling, while Outlays are level and predicted to be rising. The long term outlook has revenues either flat or marginally increasing.
This is
way off; it's unlike anything in the past. Tax cuts for the rich and for corporations are causing revenue to
fall during an economic boom. And outlays are
increasing due to government spending. The party in charge is allowing and enabling this, and controlling the media. In all practicality, there's no stopping this irresponsible governing.
But here's the good news: a year or 2 down the road, when the shit hits the fan - we go into a recession, and interest rates climb - it's the people who enabled this who will get hit; all the middle America people who are scraping to get by, and who've decided they don't need healthcare. The rest of us, with assets and jobs that are in demand, will do just fine.
www.latimes.com
www.cnn.com
www-m.cnn.com
www.nbcnews.com
