Obama records first budget surplus of $58 billion in April, breaking a streak of deficits inherited from Bush dating back to SEP 2008

[Dakine10 5,452]

This is a combination of good news and accounting magic.

On the topic good news and magic accounting........... where's my $50?

[unlockingsky 94]

That's exactly their logic.

Washington, D.C.--After proposing a $3.73 trillion budget that increases spending amid a record $1.65 trillion federal deficit, President Obama announced his plan to address the nation's unprecedented fiscal crisis by funding an "historic" $1.2 trillion federal public works project that will guarantee that "all citizens have a place to put their head in the sand."

"I play a lot of golf," said Obama, "but it's not just guys like me who should be able to bury their heads from reality in the bunker on the 18th hole. It's time head burying became an entitlement for all Americans."

they are taking a bet that the multiplier effect would work. what he doesn't realize is that the elite is pocketing all the money for themselves. the money was meant for the average worker to get a job in the gov and spend it. is say too much overhead comes from the elite to run those programs.

[Leatherneck 693]

More D.C. fuzzy math.

[james&olya 1,121]

We've lost money every month for the past 42 months. Last month we made money. This is a combination of good news and accounting magic.

Don't worry, Romney can fix that surplus! Just remember what GWB was able to do with the surplus that Clinton had!

[mawilson 2,133]

Don't worry, Romney can fix that surplus! Just remember what GWB was able to do with the surplus that Clinton had!

He was able to give the money back to the people in the form of a tax cut.

[james&olya 1,121]

He was able to give the money back to the people in the form of a tax cut.

Dubya was phenomenally successful in correcting those budget surpluses!

[mawilson 2,133]

Dubya was phenomenally successful in correcting those budget surpluses!

Bush implemented his tax cuts based on CBO projections of trillions in surpluses 10 years out.

In January 2001, CBO's baseline projections showed a cumulative surplus of $5.6 trillion for

the 2002-2011 period.

[james&olya 1,121]

Bush implemented his tax cuts based on CBO projections of trillions in surpluses 10 years out.

In January 2001, CBO's baseline projections showed a cumulative surplus of $5.6 trillion for

the 2002-2011 period.

Thank god he didn't just waste that money paying down the debt!! And as he showed us subsequently, not only budget surpluses when the economy is on a roll call for tax cuts but also budget deficits when the economy goes in the toilet! He was a real tax-cut genius. Now the whole GOP follows this recipe. It is so refreshingly simple! No matter what the problem, the solution will always be tax cuts and eliminating regulations on corporations, who, as we know now, are people too!!

Edited May 8, 2012 by james&olya

[mawilson 2,133]

Thank god he didn't just waste that money paying down the debt!

He was advised against it by the best and brightest.

"... continuing to run surpluses beyond the point at which we reach zero or near-zero federal debt brings to center stage the critical longer-term fiscal policy issue of whether the federal government should accumulate large quantities of private (more technically nonfederal) assets. At zero debt, the continuing unified budget surpluses currently projected imply a major accumulation of private assets by the federal government. This development should factor materially into the policies you and the Administration choose to pursue.

...

we must avoid a situation in which we come upon the level of irreducible debt so abruptly that the only alternative to the accumulation of private assets would be a sharp reduction in taxes and/or an increase in expenditures, because these actions might occur at a time when sizable economic stimulus would be inappropriate. In other words, budget policy should strive to limit potential disruptions by making the on-budget surplus economically inconsequential when the debt is effectively paid off."

[james&olya 1,121]

He was advised against it by the best and brightest.

"... continuing to run surpluses beyond the point at which we reach zero or near-zero federal debt brings to center stage the critical longer-term fiscal policy issue of whether the federal government should accumulate large quantities of private (more technically nonfederal) assets.

And here so many people thought that GWB was just a moron in way over his head! In reality he was wisely protecting us against that huge danger that we might very soon have paid off the federal debt! I think we should elect another repub to further advance those wise principles of further reducing revenues (taxes) so that we can be assured no democrat in the future will ever be able to do again what that irresponsible democrat Clinton did in achieving a budget surplus!

[mawilson 2,133]

And here so many people thought that GWB was just a moron in way over his head!

Whether or not GWB is/was a moron is irrelevant; he's not the one pulling the strings.

[I AM NOT THAT GUY 5,715]

Bush implemented his tax cuts based on CBO projections of trillions in surpluses 10 years out.

In January 2001, CBO's baseline projections showed a cumulative surplus of $5.6 trillion for

the 2002-2011 period.

That's what you all get for trusting CBO projections. Garbage in, garbage out.

The federal government incurred a budget deficit of $721 billion in the first seven months of fiscal year 2012, CBO estimates in its latest Monthly Budget Review—$149 billion less than the shortfall reported during the same period last year. Without shifts in the timing of certain payments, however, the deficit so far this year would have been only $92 billion smaller.

http://www.cbo.gov/publication/43225

There is $57 billion of your $58 billion "surplus" right there.

:rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

Edited May 9, 2012 by ☼

[james&olya 1,121]

Whether or not GWB is/was a moron is irrelevant; he's not the one pulling the strings.

Oh, you mean the Dark Lord, ####### Voldemort Cheney!

[Mr. Big Dog 10,747]

The Republicans will bring us to a surplus with tax cuts.

[Pooky 3,355]

The U.S. government recorded a budget surplus of $58 billion in April, the Congressional Budget Office estimated on Monday, breaking a streak of deficits that began in 2008.

The surplus — the first of Barack Obama's presidency — was the result of both increased tax collection and lower government spending.

CBO estimated that receipts were $30 billion higher in April than the same month a year ago, due to declining refunds that month and higher corporate income tax receipts. Spending fell by $69 billion compared to April 2011.

So, there's a $58 billion budget surplus.

There's an additional $30 billion in receipts.

There's also a drop of $69 billion in spending.

Now, my math may be a bit fuzzy, but without the drop in spending, there would still be a deficit. So the surplus is a result of lower government spending, which is good. The additional receipts just let the government spend a little bit more without running into that problematic red ink.

Once again, politics gets in the way of simple mathematics. Mind you, telling people that lowering government spending alone can reduce turn deficit into surplus wouldn't sound too good, when mentioned alongside the (I don't want you to use my name any more for the) Buffett Rule.