Federal Budget Deficit $1.30 Trillion for FY 2011
Forget how the MSM reports the deficit for the fiscal year ended September 30, 2011; here’s the abstract of the October 2011 monthly budget review from the Congressional Budget Office (CBO):
“CBO estimates that the federal budget deficit was about $1.30 trillion in fiscal year 2011, approximately the same dollar amount as the shortfall recorded in 2010. The 2011 deficit was equal to 8.6 percent of gross domestic product, CBO estimates, down from 8.9 percent in 2010 and 10.0 percent in 2009, but greater than in any other year since 1945. The estimated 2011 total reflects the shift of some payments from fiscal year 2012 into fiscal year 2011 (that is, from October to September, because October 1 fell on a weekend); without that shift, the deficit in 2011 would have been $1.27 trillion. CBO’s deficit estimate is based on data from the Daily Treasury Statements; the Treasury Department will report the actual deficit for fiscal year 2011 later this month.”
Bloomberg News reported yesterday it was the “third consecutive annual budget deficit in excess of $1 trillion.” The news report added “(t)he budget deficit for fiscal 2011 was 8.7 percent of gross domestic product, down from 9 percent in 2010.” What is difficult to understand, however, is the political elite’s inability or unwillingness to control or cut spending. As evidence, Bloomberg News reported:
“Spending rose 4.2 percent in fiscal 2011 from a year earlier to $3.6 trillion, according to the Treasury. Revenue climbed 6.5 percent to $2.3 trillion.”
The CBO explains that 4.2% increase in spending this way:
“Outlays ended the year 4.2 percent above 2010 amounts, CBO estimates. After adjusting for the effects of timing shifts, the rate of growth was 1.8 percent. Excluding adjustments recorded in the budget for the estimated cost of credit programs (mainly the Troubled Asset Relief Program), the government’s other outlays increased by less than one-half of one percent relative to spending in 2010.”
At St Louis Today, the Associated Press reported the cost of the deficits and all the added debt this way:
“For 2011, the government had to borrow 36 cents of every dollar it spent. The string of massive debts has made interest on that debt the fastest-growing budget category. For 2011, net interest payments rose 15.7 percent to $227 billion.” (emphasis added)
What a bunch of financial wizards we have on the other side of the Potomac? Sheesh!