Budget Deficit Grows

[RunInRed 16,381]

For the life of me, I can't figure out why more "conservatives" aren't speaking out about this.  In a boom economy, this is crazy ...

U.S. Budget Deficit Already Exceeds Last Year’s Total Figure

The U.S. fiscal deficit has already exceeded the full-year figure for last year, as spending growth outpaces revenue.

The gap grew to $866.8 billion in the first 10 months of the fiscal year, up 27% from the same period a year earlier, the Treasury Department said in an emailed statement on Monday. That’s wider than last fiscal year’s shortfall of $779 billion -- which was the largest federal deficit since 2012.

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-08-12/u-s-budget-deficit-already-exceeds-last-year-s-total-figure?srnd=premium

[Grumps 3,704]

It's pathetic! No politician really wants to control spending. They seem to think that we can be bought. They are probably right.

[homersapien 11,357]

18 hours ago, RunInRed said:

For the life of me, I can't figure out why more "conservatives" aren't speaking out about this.  In a boom economy, this is crazy ...

U.S. Budget Deficit Already Exceeds Last Year’s Total Figure

The U.S. fiscal deficit has already exceeded the full-year figure for last year, as spending growth outpaces revenue.

The gap grew to $866.8 billion in the first 10 months of the fiscal year, up 27% from the same period a year earlier, the Treasury Department said in an emailed statement on Monday. That’s wider than last fiscal year’s shortfall of $779 billion -- which was the largest federal deficit since 2012.

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-08-12/u-s-budget-deficit-already-exceeds-last-year-s-total-figure?srnd=premium

I think this is the first time the deficit hasn't been reduced when the economy was this good.  

[aubiefifty 16,740]

11 hours ago, Grumps said:

It's pathetic! No politician really wants to control spending. They seem to think that we can be bought. They are probably right.

i keep seeing stories where ted cruz and others are calling for more tax breaks just like the last. and i have no idea how fired up about it they are but it is my understanding it is being discussed. very few folks are being held accountable on either side. i often think this is the beginning of the end for our great country and the mess we are leaving other generations down the road.

[DKW 86 7,419]

I came to thje conclusion that the Republican braintrust, such as it is, has decided that making their donors wealthy and bankrupting the Federal Govt is just their defacto plan. They come out every election and TALK about deficits and being Pro-Life. They do not mean one word of it. NOT ONE WORD. Throw in the blind non-attention to whats going on in banking, energy, health insurance, business, etc and folks, you almost wonder just HOW bought they are as a party. 

We are headed for a 2008 Part II. They are actively undermining the public with their suicidal focus on deregulation. They do not care. Wildly large deficits, cowboys on Wall Street, and they dont give a damn about any of it. Oh they will cry and wail when it fails again, BUT THEY DO NOTHING TO STOP IT. 

The Republicans are like Oprah on Wall Street: "You get a bankruptcy....and you and you and you..You all get bailouts!!!! So just act as irresposible as you can. And send your donations to us!!!""""

[auburn41 492]

1 hour ago, homersapien said:

I think this is the first time the deficit hasn't been reduced when the economy was this good.  

It is the spending.  The tax revenues to the Federal Government have gone up every year since 2013.  That means for all you "TAX CUTS FOR THE RICH" people....the Federal Government has more money to spend this year than they did last year.  Which leads me to the question, if Trump messed the deficit up with the tax cuts, why are the tax revenues to Federal Government increasing?  They need to stop spending!!

[RunInRed 16,381]

58 minutes ago, auburn41 said:

It is the spending.  The tax revenues to the Federal Government have gone up every year since 2013.  That means for all you "TAX CUTS FOR THE RICH" people....the Federal Government has more money to spend this year than they did last year.  Which leads me to the question, if Trump messed the deficit up with the tax cuts, why are the tax revenues to Federal Government increasing?  They need to stop spending!!

The population is growing (more taxpayers), so of course revenues are going to go up.

The tax cuts were a net loser in-terms of what they did to the deficit.

[auburn41 492]

18 minutes ago, RunInRed said:

The population is growing (more taxpayers), so of course revenues are going to go up.

The tax cuts were a net loser in-terms of what they did to the deficit.

They sure as hell didn't increase from 2008 to 2012!  The population was still growing so how do you explain that?

[RunInRed 16,381]

14 minutes ago, auburn41 said:

They sure as hell didn't increase from 2008 to 2012!  The population was still growing so how do you explain that?

Revenues dipped 2008-2010 as employment dropped due to the recession.  As we started to crawl our way out of the recession, revenues began to pick back up.  I'm not saying spending is not a problem but during boom times like now, a growing deficit is just bad fiscal policy.

[auburn41 492]

5 minutes ago, RunInRed said:

Revenues dipped 2008-2010 as employment dropped due to the recession.  As we started to crawl our way out of the recession, revenues began to pick back up.  I'm not saying spending is not a problem but during boom times like now, a growing deficit is just bad fiscal policy.

We are in VIOLENT AGREEMENT that NOT CUTTING SPENDING is bad fiscal policy.  I just correctly pointed out that all the screaming about the tax cuts (in other words allowing people to keep more of their own money) did not adversely affect the revenues the Government was collecting.  

[AU64 10,122]

25 minutes ago, auburn41 said:

45 minutes ago, RunInRed said:

The population is growing (more taxpayers), so of course revenues are going to go up.

 

Considering that more than half of the US population does not pay Federal taxes and something like the top 20% of taxpayers end up paying about 95% of Federal income taxes....I gotta wonder about your "of course"  observation.  

Plus......since likely those added to the population are not paying taxes....and in fact, might be a tax deduction  for some tax payer the increased population probably adds to the cost of the government without adding to the income.  . 

Need to concentrate of the spending....

 

[augolf1716 21,101]

7 hours ago, DKW 86 said:

I came to thje conclusion that the Republican braintrust, such as it is, has decided that making their donors wealthy and bankrupting the Federal Govt is just their defacto plan. They come out every election and TALK about deficits and being Pro-Life. They do not mean one word of it. NOT ONE WORD. Throw in the blind non-attention to whats going on in banking, energy, health insurance, business, etc and folks, you almost wonder just HOW bought they are as a party. 

We are headed for a 2008 Part II. They are actively undermining the public with their suicidal focus on deregulation. They do not care. Wildly large deficits, cowboys on Wall Street, and they dont give a damn about any of it. Oh they will cry and wail when it fails again, BUT THEY DO NOTHING TO STOP IT. 

The Republicans are like Oprah on Wall Street: "You get a bankruptcy....and you and you and you..You all get bailouts!!!! So just act as irresposible as you can. And send your donations to us!!!""""

Ricky....Trailer Park Guys

[bigbird 60,460]

The reality is it will never be fixed or properly addressed. It would require substantial compromise from both parties. There would need to be an increase in tax revenue (across all brackets) as well as substantial spending reductions. People will never want to pay more and receive less. 

 

So, in the spirit of compromise, which areas would you be willing to cut spending and where would you be willing to pay more? 

[Brad_ATX 13,654]

1 minute ago, bigbird said:

The reality is it will never be fixed or properly addressed. It would require substantial compromise from both parties. There would need to be an increase in tax revenue (across all brackets) as well as substantial spending reductions. People will never want to pay more and receive less. 

 

So, in the spirit of compromise, which areas would you be willing to cut spending and where would you be willing to pay more? 

I'm willing to pay an extra point or two on taxes.  I'd like to see some spending reduction on the military (we outspend the next 8 countries combined) and social security with the right cut off age (maybe anyone 35 and below can stop paying).

[bigbird 60,460]

Just now, Brad_ATX said:

I'm willing to pay an extra point or two on taxes.  I'd like to see some spending reduction on the military (we outspend the next 8 countries combined) and social security with the right cut off age (maybe anyone 35 and below can stop paying).

I like it.

I know this chart is 4 years old and the exact numbers have changed, but the percentages are probably relativly similar.

I would like to see a reduction in unemployment and SS as well. I would also like to look into limiting welfare programs to those with US citizenship. Also, I would like to explore something like a 0.5-1% Federal sales tax (including online) or an increase on the gas tax if it's in combination with a reasonably regulated gas price.

[TitanTiger 20,472]

Deficits only matter to Republicans when a Democrat is in office.  Then we can't afford anything, need to control spending, etc.  The second a Republican gets in office, we can't afford to do anything other than cut taxes, increases in military spending are a non-issue, and worrying about deficits is for effete libs.

[DKW 86 7,419]

53 minutes ago, TitanTiger said:

Deficits only matter to Republicans when a Democrat is in office.  Then we can't afford anything, need to control spending, etc.  The second a Republican gets in office, we can't afford to do anything other than cut taxes, increases in military spending are a non-issue, and worrying about deficits is for effete libs.

Rinse and repeat every election cycle...