Some Good News and Some Not So Good

[Annie]

The deficit will be lower than predicted. Still at least 3 times larger than previous year, not the 'slightly higher, but see what he's done' as some have tried to claim:

AP source: White House deficit less than projected - Yahoo! News

AP source: White House deficit less than projected

By JIM KUHNHENN and PHILIP ELLIOTT, Associated Press Writers
1 hr 33 mins ago

WASHINGTON – The federal budget picture will look slightly better next week. Relatively speaking.

The White House plans to announce the federal deficit will still be a record breaker, at $1.58 trillion, for the current 2009 fiscal year. But the amount is about $262 billion less than officials predicted earlier this year.

That's mostly because the administration erased a $250 billion contingency fund it had penciled into the budget in case Wall Street needed more government help in getting out of the financial crisis.

While the numbers still represent a tremendous amount of red ink, they would give the administration the opportunity to say its policies have prevented a more extreme financial crisis and eliminated the need for further bank infusions.

Nonetheless, the deficit amount is a huge obstacle for an administration trying to undertake massive policy overhauls in health care and the environment. And the true impact of deficits lies in the coming years.

A slow recovery from the recession, as many economists predict, could test Obama's goal of cutting the deficit to $512 billion in 2013 and pressure him to call for deep spending cuts or increases in revenue through tax hikes.

Even at $1.58 trillion, the deficit this year would be three times larger than last year. A White House official, speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss the report before its release Tuesday, said the report for the budget year that ends Sept. 30 also will predict Washington will spend $3.653 trillion this year. Revenue, however, would reach only $2.074 trillion....

 

[RetiredGySgt]

Yup, still waiting for a real explanation on how Bush deficits were bad but Obama deficits are good. Jillian and few others claimed that it was all good cause the money was being spent in the US so it did not matter how high the deficit was.

Of course that was before we were told BILLIONS were sent to foreign banks.

 

[editec]

We're so hosed.

 

[toomuchtime_]

The deficit will be lower than predicted. Still at least 3 times larger than previous year, not the 'slightly higher, but see what he's done' as some have tried to claim:

AP source: White House deficit less than projected - Yahoo! News

AP source: White House deficit less than projected

By JIM KUHNHENN and PHILIP ELLIOTT, Associated Press Writers
1 hr 33 mins ago

WASHINGTON – The federal budget picture will look slightly better next week. Relatively speaking.

The White House plans to announce the federal deficit will still be a record breaker, at $1.58 trillion, for the current 2009 fiscal year. But the amount is about $262 billion less than officials predicted earlier this year.

That's mostly because the administration erased a $250 billion contingency fund it had penciled into the budget in case Wall Street needed more government help in getting out of the financial crisis.

While the numbers still represent a tremendous amount of red ink, they would give the administration the opportunity to say its policies have prevented a more extreme financial crisis and eliminated the need for further bank infusions.

Nonetheless, the deficit amount is a huge obstacle for an administration trying to undertake massive policy overhauls in health care and the environment. And the true impact of deficits lies in the coming years.

A slow recovery from the recession, as many economists predict, could test Obama's goal of cutting the deficit to $512 billion in 2013 and pressure him to call for deep spending cuts or increases in revenue through tax hikes.

Even at $1.58 trillion, the deficit this year would be three times larger than last year. A White House official, speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss the report before its release Tuesday, said the report for the budget year that ends Sept. 30 also will predict Washington will spend $3.653 trillion this year. Revenue, however, would reach only $2.074 trillion....

So far Obama WH estimates of the economy have been generally considered unrealistically optimistic by most other economists. Since cost and deficits, not universal coverage, is what most voters consider most important about the health insurance bill before Congress, I would be suspicious about any report from this WH that says the deficit will be merely horrendous and not catastrophic just when the Dems are about to make their final push to pass the Bankrupt America Health Insurance bill, HR 3200.

 

[Soggy in NOLA]

Didn't you get the memo? Bush bad, Obama good.

 

[Care4all]

The thing is, the trillion dollars given as the bank bail out and insurance industry bailout bills (and the stimulus bill earlier that year in June 08), were done under President Bush, and the recent stimulus bill and major automobile bailout was done under President Obama, BUT all of the fiscal year 2009 will be attributed to President Bush as his deficit number, as his budget that began October 1st, 2008 and ends sept 30, 2009, and Prseident Obama's first Fiscal Budget attributed to him will be 2010 which begins October 1, 2009.

The first year President Bush was in Office, we had a budget surplus of hundreds of billions when Bush took office, but immediately following his inaugural, he had congress pass his tax cuts and stimulus checks that went out to all of us August of that year, along with the multi billions Bailout money sent to the airlines and New York/Pentegon after 9/11.... which wiped out the Billions Clinton could have claimed as surplus for the Budget of his final year in office that began that October of 2000 that would have physically ended sept 30 of 2001....

so are the cards drawn I suppose.

Regardless, $1.5 trillion this ONE YEAR's deficit is MORE MONEY than the 10 year cost for healthcare insurance reform....we are in a world of trouble!

Care

 

[Soggy in NOLA]

Ah... more of the mythical Clinton surplusses.

They NEVER existed. It was an accounting trick whereby Clinton reduced public borrowings but INCREASED intergovernmental borrowings. It's kinda like saying, I didn't overspend just because instead of charging it all on your Visa, you took it out of your 401K. You still spent more than you took in.

As well, the rational used by Bush is no different than the rational used by Obama for running deficits... "hey, it ain't my budget yet amd I inherited a mess".

Alas, we are in trouble, and I don't think it matters who is in the WH anymore. These folks flatly don't give a shit.

 

[Soggy in NOLA]

I guess that's why they make Vodka.

 

[PLYMCO_PILGRIM]

Ugh.

3x the debt of 12 months ago = 3x the amount of wealth being drained out of ALL of our pockets due to interest payments to foreign nations on that debt.

I hate debt....which is why i dont have ANY myself.

 

[Care4all]

Ah... more of the mythical Clinton surplusses.

They NEVER existed. It was an accounting trick whereby Clinton reduced public borrowings but INCREASED intergovernmental borrowings. It's kinda like saying, I didn't overspend just because instead of charging it all on your Visa, you took it out of your 401K. You still spent more than you took in.

As well, the rational used by Bush is no different than the rational used by Obama for running deficits... "hey, it ain't my budget yet amd I inherited a mess".

Alas, we are in trouble, and I don't think it matters who is in the WH anymore. These folks flatly don't give a shit.

fyi
he didn't use a trick, he followed the law as it stood.....SS has been part of treasury revenues and in the budget since johnson wanted to hide what percentage of the budget was being spent on vietnam....

taking the SS surplus money, and using it to pay down our debt to foreigners with it, was not a trick....it was done by PLAN.

care

 

[Care4all]

Ugh.

3x the debt of 12 months ago = 3x the amount of wealth being drained out of ALL of our pockets due to interest payments to foreign nations on that debt.

I hate debt....which is why i dont have ANY myself.

fyi
NOT 3 times the national DEBT but 3 times our budget DEFICIT of a year ago!

 

[Old Rocks]

Care, these people are not going to admit that their fellow completely screwed up everything that he touched. President Obama inherited an economy that was freefalling into a major Depression. How effective the Stimulas Package will be is yet to be seen. Things at present have only reached the stage of being less worse.

Whatever else one can say of Clinton, the nation was far better off at the end of his two terms than it was at the end of the Bush terms.

 

[ABikerSailor]

Ah... more of the mythical Clinton surplusses.

They NEVER existed. It was an accounting trick whereby Clinton reduced public borrowings but INCREASED intergovernmental borrowings. It's kinda like saying, I didn't overspend just because instead of charging it all on your Visa, you took it out of your 401K. You still spent more than you took in.

As well, the rational used by Bush is no different than the rational used by Obama for running deficits... "hey, it ain't my budget yet amd I inherited a mess".

Alas, we are in trouble, and I don't think it matters who is in the WH anymore. These folks flatly don't give a shit.

Hey.......Soggy No Load.........might wanna check your facts again........

The first "voodoo economics" was done by Bush Sr. when he shifted the last payday of the military (prior to '94 we were paid on the 15th and 30th of each month), he decided to shift that one payday over to the 1st instead of the 30th. Now? The military is paid on the 1st and 15th. Why did he do that? If payday was on the 30th, it would have reflected on that budget (end of fiscal year is Sept 30th), so he passed it on to the next fiscal year (1 October).

The folks don't give a shit? Might wanna look in the mirror idiot, because you stating that it doesn't matter who's in the WH, kinda makes you look like you don't give a shit.