The Budget Deficit Is Shrinking Rapidly And Most Americans Don’t Know It

[Triana]

The deficit is down 37.6 percent for the first 10 months of the 2013 budget year, according to the Congressional Budget Office. But a new survey conducted by Google at Paul Krugman’s request finds that more than 50 percent of Americans think it’s still growing.

Last year the government spent $973.8 billion more than it took in for the first 10 months of the budget year. The deficit for the same period this year is $607.4. This year’s deficit is projected to be $670 billion.

As a share of gross domestic product, the deficit was recently as high as 10.1 percent in 2009, when the deficit was $1.4 trillion. It is around 4 percent of GDP, which means the deficit has been cut by more than half since then, in both actual dollars and as a share of GDP.

A poll in February found that only 6 percent of Americans were aware the deficit was shrinking. The new survey finds that a little over 17 percent of those polled know the deficit is shrinking, with only 8.3 percent giving the correct answer: that it has decreased by a lot.

THE REST:

http://www.nationalmemo.com/deficit-down-by-37-6-percent-this-year-but-most-americans-think-its-growing/

And a little note for Paul ("Lyin&quot Ryan and the rest of the GOP idiots out there about BUDGETS and Republicans:

[House of Roberts]

1. Most Americans can't differentiate deficit from debt.

If Eric Cantor had said 'debt' the other day, instead of 'deficit' his statement would have been entirely correct, and most people would have thought he said the same thing.

[Triana]

2. Treasury Monthly Statement Shows the U.S. Deficit Is Melting Away

Rand Paul is complaining about trillion-dollar deficits. Republicans are gearing up for more brinksmanship, the threat of default, and shutdowns over the massive deficits. President Obama and much of official centrist Washington still dream of a grand bargain, implausible as that may seem. Ideology seems to hold that the massive, 13-figure annual federal deficit is killing the economy.

The data show otherwise. And they have been for months. Which is why we have dubbed this the Golden Age of Deficit Reduction.

...

Two months remain in fiscal 2013. In September, the government typically runs a surplus—it’s another one of the months when companies and individuals make big quarterly payments. If current trends remain intact, the government will essentially break even over the next two months, and the deficit for the full year will wind up somewhere close to where it was through the first 10 months.

So as you listen to people complaining about the annual deficit, remember that it is melting away. The miracle cure for deficits, it turns out, isn’t ripping up the social safety net, or a grand bargain. It’s growth, combined with some fiscal restraint, and higher taxes. Compared with a year ago, there are about 2.2 million more people working today, at slightly higher wages, paying slightly higher taxes. The combination of those forces pushes collections higher. Meanwhile, spending on anti-poverty programs like unemployment benefits falls as unemployment claims decline. Winding down the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan has reduced the Pentagon budget. And the sequester has taken a bite out of the budget of many agencies. The combination of those forces pushes spending lower. The latest update on this year’s fiscal situation confirms that each of these trends is fully intact.

MORE...
http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2013/08/12/treasury-monthly-statement-shows-the-u-s-deficit-is-melting-away.print.html

[Frustratedlady]

3. What I don't understand is why don't the Democrats talk about this?

We are so bad about tooting our own horn.

Why doesn't the media (at least those on our side) hammer this message home? Get off the social, Weiner-type garbage and state the facts.

The Democrats don't refute the garbage coming out of the Republicans' 24/7 mouthpieces, but let the run off the head with their propaganda. Good grief, get some backbone, show the public the facts and deprogram the people.

Same with Obamacare. Get out there and sell it, don't let the Republicans' accusations have time to sink in the brains of their followers.

[Triana]

4. Good question. I understand the corprat-pwned media's reluctance

to defy their corprat overlords but Dems ought to be SCREAMING this stuff from rooftops. Do they even OFFER to appear on programs to talk about this stuff? No one knows.

[NuclearDem]

5. We really shouldn't be out touting it. Deficit spending during a recession is a good thing.

All this would be useful for is appealing to Republicans and conservatives, and no amount of appeasement is going to get them on the president's side.

[Triana]

7. Agreed. But the fact that it's going down means two things:

1. It's blatantly obvious that the GOP is lying again/still.
2. Their goddamned propaganda works and idiots believe it, causing aforementioned idiots to continue to vote against their own and everyone else's best interests (everyone except the very wealthy and Wall St.

Bottom line: their lies need to be exposed. People need to grok a clue.

[MFrohike]

6. Oh boy

A giant fiscal contraction in a time of high employment and worsening income inequality. Now there's a cause for celebration!

[Triana]

8. Personally, I'm not celebrating ...

... just pointing out GOP LIES.

[MFrohike]

10. It's not much different

All it shows is that Obama has been more effective than them at pursuing their disastrous policies. It's a political own goal in terms of Democratic philosophy.

[bigapple123]

9. how much of this is due to

(1) Sequester
(2) Fannie and Freddie returning dividends to the Treasury (but the government is still out at least $100b on what they injected)
(3) Temporary tax gains due to people taking advantage of last year's lower capital gains tax rates?

[Bandit]

14. Does it matter?

Let History be our guide. Every Republican President since Reagan has increased both Deficit spending and increased National Debt. Clinton actually decreased the National Debt and created surpluses for his last two years in Office. Obama was left with the biggest financial mess since the one Republicans left Roosevelt with. He is doing what Democrats historically have done. Limited spending on wasteful projects and increased spending on projects that have a great return. Democrats always seem to get our financial house in order until the next Republican comes along to blow it all on give-aways for the wealthy.

[quinnox]

11. Well, we are approaching 17 trillion in debt now, so the overall debt has gone up at a rapid pace

ever since Obama took office. When Bush left office the National debt was at 10.5 trillion. And we are now getting close to 17 trillion. So Obama has added almost 7 trillion to our overall debt. That is somewhat breath-taking.

It is good the yearly deficit is getting lower, but that still means we are spending more than we take in every year. This graph shows the alarming trends of this.







http://www.usdebtclock.org/

[tblue37]

13. Bush put his wars on credit, but Obama has put their cost back onto the

budget, so we know we are spending that money. We were spending it under Bush, of course, but he had the cost hidden from the budget.

[Triana]

15. See Response #1 n/t

[quinnox]

17. yes, I understand what the difference is, but what I'm saying is because the overall debt

has gone up so dramatically, that is a big counterweight to a good news story like this one, in terms of the overall picture and climate of how people will perceive something like this.

It is great Obama has slashed the yearly deficit this time, but we still have a long way to go. We should be running a surplus every year if we want to start paying this gargantuan debt off, not putting ever more billions and trillions onto the credit card.

[tblue37]

12. Dems don't do a good job of informing the public.

Republicans have a major advantage in that the MSM favors their narrative, but Dems could spend more time getting the message out.

[Triana]

16. Very true. Unfortunately, GOOP is winning the propaganda war.

And Dems don't even bother anymore with exception of Sanders and Grayson. It should be considered part of their job.