McClatchy DC: WASHINGTON
The government ran a $587 billion budget deficit for the just-completed fiscal year, a 34 percent spike over last year after significant improvement from the record deficits of President Barack Obama’s first years in office.
Friday’s deficit news, while sobering, does not appear bad enough to jolt a gridlocked Washington into action to stem the flow of red ink. It came in an annual report by the Treasury Department and the White House budget office.
In the presidential campaign, intractable budget deficits and growing debt have been mostly neglected by Democrat Hillary Clinton and Republican Donald Trump.
The latest figures show that the government is borrowing 15 cents of every dollar it spends. Government spending went up almost 5 percent to $3.9 trillion in fiscal 2016, but revenues stayed flat at $3.3 trillion.
Obama came to power after the 2008 financial crisis and as the economy was still emerging from a deep recession, and the deficit spiked to $1.4 trillion, which required Treasury to borrow 40 cents for every dollar spent by the government. It remained above $1 trillion for three more years before declining to $439 billion last year as the U.S. economy continues to slowly grow.
“The Obama Administration’s agenda has spurred durable economic growth and the longest streak of job growth on record, while sharply reducing the deficit to a sustainable level,” said Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew said in a statement. “We have built a solid foundation for continued investment in economic growth and opportunity for all, while maintaining fiscal discipline and using fiscal space appropriately to grow the economy.”
The article is brimming with idiocy. What fucking good is a media that just reprints WH press releases? That’s rhetorical BTW.
Like this-Friday’s deficit news, while sobering, does not appear bad enough to jolt a gridlocked Washington into action to stem the flow of red ink.
Gee, sobering huh? $90 billion in fairy dust money pumped into an economy already staggering under trillions of Unicorn Farts. But hey, why worry, they got theirs all nice and safe behind their guarded & walled estates.
Or this one
“The Obama Administration’s agenda has spurred durable economic growth and the longest streak of job growth on record, while sharply reducing the deficit to a sustainable level,” said Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew said in a statement.
Sustainable? Is he out of his fucking mind? Job growth? Durable economic growth? Since 2014, the economy has lost 32,000 manufacturing jobs, while adding 547,000 food service jobs. Factory orders have declined on a year-over-year basis for 22 straight months. US commercial bankruptcy filings were up 38 percent year-over-year in September. The anemic growth rate since 2009 is not getting better, 1% looks to be the ceiling, despite skyrocketing government debt and soaring central bank balance sheets, but because of them.
Or this
“…while maintaining fiscal discipline and using fiscal space appropriately to grow the economy.”
Fiscal discipline??? Lordie, I’d hate to see undisciplined fiscal discipline. And WTF is fiscal space?
Finally, my idiocy meter pegged on this one
“It’s totally manageable. There’s literally nothing there to worry about…”,
I know he really means it because he said literally. And it’s not just manageable but totally manageable. So don’t sweat it. ZIRP is reality now with negative rates already popping up. Imagine, buying a bond where, at maturity, you will receive less money then you just spent.
I’m gonna start drinking.
Don’t worry. The pattern of fluff will become one of gloom and doom after 20Jan17.
No no no…the deck chairs should go along the starboard side opening up the feng shui of the fore deck.. quote overheard during the sinking of the Titanic.