U.S. Tax Revenues Up 9.7% Through Four Months, Deficit Down 57%; U.S. Media Outlets Mostly Ignore the News
There's a good chance you didn't hear about this (original US Treasury report is here):
Both Brian Wesbury at FT Portfolios and yours truly have to confess to being wrong so far this year on revenue growth. We both have been thinking (Wesbury here, BizzyBlog here) that it’s going to come in at 9%, but as you see, through four months it’s actually pushing 10%.
Even with spending control slipping a bit (up 6.4% in January 2007 compared to January 2006), the deficit is 57% lower through the first four months of FY07 than it was at the same time in FY06. I believe that merits a "Wow."
There is a very real possibility that the federal budget will be in a surplus situation when President Bush hands over the keys to the White House in January 2009. Four months ago, I first suggested that it might very well happen. Brian Wesbury now agrees. The Skeptical Optimist has seen this happening for an even longer time.
While there is some coverage of the budget news -- this Yahoo! search at about 6:30 a.m. this morning on "federal deficit" (without quotes) has about 20 citations in the first 70 listings going back to the time of the yesterday's Treasury release -- there is no disputing its relatively muted treatment. The online versions of the New York Times, Washington Post, and USA Today do not have links to the news on their home pages, or even on their business section home pages (USAT does have an "On Deadline" blog entry). The Times has a fairly long article (may require registration) comparing the current expansion, which started in 2003, to the early years of the Clinton economic expansion, but does not bring out yesterday's news about the shrinking deficit.
ABCnews.com? Nope (not on home page or at Money & Business). MSNBC? Get real ("New evidence bolsters teen driver training" is apparently a more important home-page business story listing; there is no mention of the Treasury release on MSNBC's business page). CBSnews.com? Surely you jest (not on home page or business page). Fox? Sorry (not on Main, Business, or "U.S." home pages).
An exception? The BBC's business home page (Note: The home-page link to the story was taken off shortly after the picture below was taken):
BBC apparently believes that the falling US deficit is of more interest to its British readers than the formerly Mainstream Media believes it is to US news consumers.
Again, what happens if a deficit falls and almost no one reports it?
The original BizzyBlog post reacting to yesterday's Treasury report is here.
—Tom Blumer is president of a training and development company in Mason, Ohio, and is a contributing editor to NewsBusters
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Spending up somewhere betwe
February 13, 2007 - 07:07 ET by sarcasmoSpending up somewhere between 4 & 6% even after this decade's massive fiscal binge is worse than "slipping a bit," IMO. A better description would be "still really-sucking, especially for our grandkids." Here's the spending "cut" story the "mainstream" media's not-covering, as they busily not-cover other stories.
JMR
spending
February 13, 2007 - 07:38 ET by Tom BlumerThat was a one-month slip. The chart shows that spending through 4 months is up only 2.1%, which is a tad less than inflation, which I'll take in a heartbeat if it continues at that rate for the rest of the fiscal year.
The thing is, especially wi
February 13, 2007 - 08:08 ET by sarcasmoThe thing is, especially with the obvious mediabias that keeps the name Dennis Kucinich prominient while not-mentioning Dr. Ron Paul, the idea of a spending cut (an actual cut, I must hasten to add when it comes to media coverage!) is not even mentioned in the "debate." Thus, up some small percentage becomes "conservative" and up some larger percentage is "liberal," but the idea of making spending go down some percentage -- like "a lot" -- goes unmentioned, especially on TV. And speaking of unmentionables, has ANYONE here yet heard Dr. Ron Paul's name mentioned on ANY TV station this year, even once? I sure as hell haven't, but it's been KucinichKucinichKucinich...
JMR
Thanks Tom. It's hard to be
February 13, 2007 - 08:25 ET by FairlightThanks Tom. It's hard to believe I have to come to Newsbusters just to get some basic facts these days. Praise the Bozell Godz.
I've said it before and I'l
February 13, 2007 - 08:44 ET by liberal_bug_zapperI've said it before and I'll say it again. We need to do more than reduce the rate of growth, we need to cut;
Budget items to be completely deleted from the national trough
Department of Health and Human Services .......................... 765,056
Department of Housing and Urban Development ................. 48,994
Department of Labor ............................................................ 55,485
Department of Transportation .............................................. 65,651
Department of the Treasury ................................................. 494,293
Environmental Protection Agency ........................................ 7,904
Social Security Administration .............................................. 622,709
Postal Service ....................................................................... 3,502
Railroad Retirement Board ................................................... 4,969
Other Independent Agencies ............................................... 14,474
Department of Agriculture ................................................... 118,660
Department of Education ..................................................... 85,393
Department of Energy .......................................................... 28,323
Total....................................................................................2,315,413
(amounts in millions)
As far as I am concerned, knocking 2.3 trillion off the Federal leeches would be a good start. We need nothing of what is listed above... and I mean nothing. It should all be private, and in the market.
If it was all in the free market, it would all be much much less expensive and far more effective.
The Federal Government should be a watch dog, making sure that monopolies don't form, and making sure that companies do not cheat customers and that things like education and medicine all are held to a high level of standards... but no entitlements. No leeches. It's time we smack 'em down.... and set them straight.
LBZ
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"These are the times that try men's souls." ~ Thomas Paine
This country was founded wi
February 13, 2007 - 09:41 ET by JDWThis country was founded with an assurance of opportunity.
News media and dems portray our economy on the brink of collapse. Isn't booming?
Why are home sales are adjusted every month?
What makes WalMart not only an incredible business success, but a desirable company for which to work?
Kennedy recently told us 36 million live in poverty, is our society ignoring the poor?
Who knows polar bears have been moved into an Alaska oil development? The same party which whines about foreign dependence and insists on robbing oil companies to fund 'clean energy' vehicles put them there.
The government is borrowing less, what if Bush kills the deficit before departing? Will it get reported?
JDW
Kerry: "You know, education, if you make the most of it ... you can do well. If you don't, you get stuck in Iraq."
An accomplished business exec
February 13, 2007 - 09:47 ET by ucAn accomplished business executive with a Harvard Business School degree probably can easily give you a straight and detailed answer. Probably even more than one of such. Mitt Romney just announced his candidacy to try to improve upon President Bush. He announced from the Henry Ford Museum in Michigan where he grew up. He makes Ross Perot look like an amateur. His announcement "this is who I am and what I stand for speach" lasted it seems like lifetimes longer than Barack Obama's.
I hope we are allowed to write in favor of conservatives on this site before the MSM spews objectionable interpretations.
An accomplished business exec
February 13, 2007 - 09:48 ET by ucAn accomplished business executive with a Harvard Business School degree probably can easily give you a straight and detailed answer. Probably even more than one of such. Mitt Romney just announced his candidacy to try to improve upon President Bush. He announced from the Henry Ford Museum in Michigan where he grew up. He makes Ross Perot look like an amateur. His announcement "this is who I am and what I stand for speach" lasted it seems like lifetimes of real experience longer than Barack Obama's.???
I hope we are allowed to write in favor of conservatives on this site before the MSM spews objectionable interpretations.
The Media is now PUSHING the
February 13, 2007 - 11:25 ET by JayTeeThe Media is now PUSHING the Trade Deficit.....since they have too many GOOD numbers in other areas ........I don't know what they will do if the Trade Deficit gets better ?
Meanwhile, 5 people killed in a shopping mall....maybe a Police "Surge" might fix the problem ? Then Congress can say....
"We support the Police, we just don't agrree with MORE police in the Shopping Mall":
The trade deficit is a ruse l
February 13, 2007 - 14:26 ET by dscottThe trade deficit is another ruse like the savings rate to be trotted out anytime the Repubs are in charge. I have a trade deficit with my grocery store, I buy groceries all the time and they take all my dollars, one day I will run out of dollars because the store will have them all. We must demand that a trade balance be implimented between us and store otherwise they will own us. If you think about it in these terms you will begin to see how absolutely rediculous the calculation is. If one is to be concerned about international trade then they should focus upon the "current accounts balance" which includes trade. The MSM is too stupid to realize there is a difference and things aren't as simplistic as they represent them to be.
“The object of life is not to be on the side of the majority but to escape finding oneself in the ranks of the insane.” – Marcus Aurelius