Ouch: Federal Tax Revenues Fall By Over One Third

Damn these problems Obama inherited from Bush.

Federal tax revenue plunged $138 billion, or 34%, in April vs. a year ago — the biggest April drop since 1981, a study released Tuesday by the American Institute for Economic Research says.

When the economy slumps, so does tax revenue, and this recession has been no different, says Kerry Lynch, senior fellow at the AIER and author of the study. "It illustrates how severe the recession has been."

For example, 6 million people lost jobs in the 12 months ended in April — and that means far fewer dollars from income taxes. Income tax revenue dropped 44% from a year ago.

"These are staggering numbers," Lynch says.

Big revenue losses mean that the U.S. budget deficit may be larger than predicted this year and in future years.

"It's one of the drivers of the ongoing expansion of the federal budget deficit," says John Lonski, chief economist for Moody's Investors Service. The Congressional Budget Office projects a $1.7 trillion budget deficit for fiscal year 2009.

The other deficit driver is government spending, which, the AIER's report says, is the main culprit for the federal budget deficit.

The White House thinks that tax revenue will increase in 2011, thanks in part to the stimulus package, says the report from AIER, an independent economic research institute. But it warns, "Even if that does happen, the administration also projects that government spending will be so much higher each year that large deficits will continue, and the national debt held by the public will double over the next 10 years."

As Obama's policies will not improve the economy, but retard it, we're actually looking at a long-term depression in economic activity and tax revenues, plus all of the spending on top of that.

Plus, nationalization of health care. Which, um, will save us money. Or something.

There's an old joke people tell when they make big, luxury purchase. They know they probably shouldn't have bought it, but they wanted it, and they claim, jokingly, they came out ahead on the deal because the luxury purchase was on sale. "Gotta spend to save!" the joke goes.

Obama apparently doesn't realize this is, in fact, a self-effacing joke. He believes it's sound economic doctrine.

Thanks to Stacy.

Heh:

Obama cuts taxes!

Posted by: New York Times Headline Dept.

posted by Ace at 12:23 PM

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