Sister Toldjah!
6/13/2006 - 9:18 pm

Investor’s Business Daily has some encouraging news on the deficit front:

Aided by surging tax receipts, President Bush may make good on his pledge to cut the deficit in half in 2006 — three years early.

Tax revenues are running $176 billion, or 12.9%, over last year, the Treasury Department said Monday. The Congressional Budget Office said receipts have risen faster over the first eight months of fiscal ‘06 than in any other such period over the past 25 years — except for last year’s 15.5% jump.

The 2006 deficit through May was $227 billion, down from $273 billion at this time last year. Spending is up $130 billion, or 7.9%.

The CBO forecast in May that the 2006 deficit could fall as low as $300 billion. Michael Englund, chief economist of Action Economics, has long expected a deficit of about $270 billion this year. Now he thinks there’s a chance the “remarkable strength in receipts” will push the deficit even lower.

With the economy topping $13 trillion this year, a $270 billion deficit would equal less than 2.1% of GDP, easily beating the president’s 2.25% goal. Bush made his vow when the White House had a dour 2004 deficit forecast of 4.5% of GDP, or $521 billion. The actual ‘04 deficit came in at $412 billion, or 3.5% of GDP, before falling to $318 billion, or 2.6% of GDP, in 2005.

A CBO analysis last week noted that withheld individual income and payroll taxes are up 7.6% from a year ago, with the gains picking up in recent months.

“Those gains suggest solid growth in wages and salaries in the national economy,” CBO said.

Bbbbbut I thought tax cuts for thet “rich” could only HURT the economy!

Hat tip: James Joyner

Posted By: Sister Toldjah in: Economy, President Bush
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  1. Do you think that maybe this could be part of the problem?

    But what Sis missed, as did all of her commenters prior to me throwing a wet blanket on the party, is that spending is up $130 billion, or 7.9%. Last time I looked, inflation wasn’t 7.9%, not even close. Why the heck are we spending so much mo…

    Trackback by Common Sense Political Thought — 6/14/2006 @ 6/14/2006 - 11:00 pm


Comments

  1. Edited. –ST

    Comment by andrew @ 6/14/2006 - 11:27 am

  2. Revenues 12.9% higher? That doesn’t sound like a drop in revenues following a tax cut does it? When will journalists learn econ 101 instead of pumping Americans full of GARBAGE for a product.

    Comment by Baklava @ 6/14/2006 - 12:13 pm

  3. Edited. –ST

    Comment by andrew @ 6/14/2006 - 1:33 pm

  4. WOW Andrew edited twice in the same post. Might be you want to learn a new 4 letter word. =)) - Lorica

    Comment by Lorica @ 6/14/2006 - 1:38 pm

  5. Edited - Blogagog

    Comment by blogagog @ 6/14/2006 - 2:21 pm

  6. LOL Kevin!

    Comment by Sister Toldjah @ 6/14/2006 - 2:23 pm

  7. Wow so far June hasn’t been a good month for liberals has it?
    :d
    Who’s on suicide watch?
    =))
    Come to think of it how would a liberal commit suicide none own a gun maybe hemp rope?
    =))

    Comment by Jim M @ 6/14/2006 - 2:23 pm

  8. Jim - they’d duct tape their face to the TV screen and watch an endless loop video of one of Bush’s Iraq war speeches…. :o

    - Bang **==

    Comment by Big Bang Hunter @ 6/14/2006 - 2:30 pm

  9. Bang, or watching FoxNews and wouldn’t that be torture for a lib and they don’t believe in torture.
    :-?
    Duct tape was invented during WW2 as a water proof sealing tape for ammunition cases. I don’t think a true liberal could use something that helped our troops.
    =))

    Comment by Jim M @ 6/14/2006 - 2:48 pm

  10. Yes, June is a great month. But there’s more to come! According to my Playbill more good news is coming soon:

    June 15: Prosecution admits Delay indictment was political ploy; withdraws complaint.

    June 17: Terrorists admit ‘yeah Bush totally PWN3D us. He’s the R0XX0R. We submit.”

    June 21: Kerry says, “That depends upon what your definition of ‘wound’ is.”

    June 28: Kos declares, “Whatever, conservatives. Yeah, you’re right, the world is better without all the terrorism, so what?”

    To be fair, some of this information may be “ahead of the news cycle”.

    Comment by blogagog @ 6/14/2006 - 2:48 pm

  11. :d
    Here’s more bad news for liberals and Al Gore “Scientists respond to Gore’s warnings of climate catastrophe” it seems Al is using junk science in his move and attendants isn’t good either.
    :((

    Comment by Jim M @ 6/14/2006 - 3:02 pm

  12. Edited. Keep it up, Andrew, and it’ll be permanent buhbye time for you. –ST

    Comment by andrew @ 6/14/2006 - 4:47 pm

  13. Buhbye. –ST

    Comment by andrew @ 6/14/2006 - 4:50 pm

  14. bbbbut liberals and lefties are all about the people, and compasion and TOLERANCE….

    Unless you don’t agree with their views….

    Comment by sanity @ 6/14/2006 - 5:23 pm

  15. Hah! “buhbye”! ST you are killing me :)

    Comment by blogagog @ 6/14/2006 - 10:08 pm

  16. Thanks Jim M for the great site. I get into the global warming debate way too often, and the more data the better!

    Comment by blogagog @ 6/14/2006 - 10:12 pm

  17. Uhhh, perhaps y’all missed something. In celebrating the news that revenues are 12.9% higher than last year, it seems to have been ignored that spending is up $130 billion, or 7.9%.

    What would the deficit be if spending had been limited to the inflation rate?

    Comment by Dana @ 6/14/2006 - 10:19 pm

  18. Dana, the point of my post wasn’t related to spending - no conserative is crazy abou t the out of control spending in Washington - but instead the fact that so many blowhards on the left predicted doom and gloom as a result of making tax cuts permanent. They’ve been far off the mark.

    Comment by Sister Toldjah @ 6/14/2006 - 11:02 pm

  19. Yeah, Sis, I know — and you’ll see from a trackback that I used your article as a starting point for one of my own.

    Heck, I don’t like the idea that revenues are up so much; that just means that the government is taking more of our money than it should!

    Comment by Dana @ 6/14/2006 - 11:05 pm

  20. But if it weren’t for the tax cuts, they’d be getting even more.

    Comment by Sister Toldjah @ 6/14/2006 - 11:09 pm

  21. - I honestly don’t think I’ve ever met, or read the writings of, a Liberal Democrat that understands the workings of a “free market” economy. They just don’t get it. Their world view is always from a standpoint of miserly protectionism, over taxation, and a willingness to spend other peoples money like its their own. Laffer’s economics drove them nutz during Reagans administration, and they never did get it. I doubt they ever will. They see all the things they argue against work, and it blows their minds.

    - Bang **==

    Comment by Big Bang Hunter @ 6/14/2006 - 11:17 pm

  22. Hopefully once this situation in Iraq and Afghanistan has settled down we can end some of these special appropriations. Also maybe all this theft from Katrina will be a good thing. Take the money out of FEMA’s hands and put it in the Defense Finance and Accounting Service’s hands, which is where I work and we can do the accounting and help them keep track of the funding. Also I think you are going to see pork barrel spending as a campaign issue in this election. That should the next couple of years. We shall see. - Lorica

    Comment by Lorica @ 6/15/2006 - 10:27 am

  23. Dana wrote, “Heck, I don’t like the idea that revenues are up so much; that just means that the government is taking more of our money than it should!”

    But it’s based on prosperity by MORE americans as opposed to taking from middle and richer americans to pay for a dependant class. When the unemployment goes down because the economy is going well that means MORE Americans are paying the taxes and corporations are hiring more people (paying witholding) and less people are truly dependant.

    Dana wrote, “In celebrating the news that revenues are 12.9% higher than last year, it seems to have been ignored that spending is up $130 billion, or 7.9%.”

    Yes We’ve all lamented that fact that spending increases are higher than inflation and higher in ALL sectors of spending. Everything has gone up every year for over 6 decades. Veterans benefits, social programs, education spending, health spending, etc. Liberals LIE and say that spending in these areas have gone down but they will NEVER point out what the total dollars in the budget one year and the next year. Their accusations are proven false when you see MORE is spent the next year. Every year for over 6 decades.

    Comment by Baklava @ 6/15/2006 - 10:40 am

  24. Sister T is correct - overspending is causing deficit, not tax cuts. Democrats and RINO “conservatives” think that raising taxes is the answer to their irresponsible spending, thus making the taxpayer pay for their disregard for responsible leadership. Reform the tax system and get rid of wasteful spending and you will see the economy burst forward and the deficit reduced to manageable amount.
    Gordo, at Appletree, on the other hand is so busy looking at ways to hate Bush he is blinded and has lost objectivity, but that is the major problem with the Sociocrats anyway. The RNC is having difficulties because they have “compromised” too much towards the Left camp, and Bush is too busy trying to be “compassionate” rather than logical and listening to his constituents.

    Comment by Keith @ 6/16/2006 - 8:48 am

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