Overspending Swells Federal Deficit in April 2009
What does massive government spending by the US government result it? The inability to even show a monthly surplus in April, the historical high point of tax collections during the fiscal year (October through September), reflects the out of control spending by the Federal Government. In fact the US treasury has not shown a negative monthly gap in April (spending vs. taxes collected) since 1983. Thanks to the ongoing economic downturn, combined to massive Federal spending authorized by Congress, first April monthly shortfall in 26 years was experienced in Washington DC. President Obama and the Congress Democrats appear to be determined to spend money US government doesn’t have, to fund programs we don’t need, that will cause increased taxes we don’t want.
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States posted its first April deficit in 26 years, a record $20.91 billion shortfall as a deep recession caused revenues to collapse in the year's biggest tax collection month, the U.S. Treasury said on Tuesday.
The deficit, the first for April since a $3.3 billion gap in 1983 as the country emerged from a deep recession, was largely in line with forecasts from Wall Street economists polled by Reuters. It brought the deficit for the first seven months of fiscal 2009 to a record $802.29 billion after a major positive accounting adjustment for the government's bailout investments.
Receipts for April, normally the year's biggest revenue month due to the April 15 deadline for federal income tax filing, fell to $266.23 billion from $403.75 billion in April 2008. Both individual and corporate income tax payments fell sharply from a year earlier. But outlays set another April record, rising to $287.14 billion from $244.47 billion a year earlier. www.reuters.com
© 2009, Jasper Welch, Four Corners Media, www.jasperwelch.org
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