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PrintApril 11, 2009
Obama Administration's Deficit Aims for Guinness Book of Records
They can’t blame all of this one on Bush. According to Reuters the U.S. Treasury Department has announced a March 2009 deficit of $192.3 billion dollars.
That’s right. The Obama Administration overspent almost a fifth of a trillion dollars in one month:
The Treasury Department today reported a $192.3 bln deficit for March, the sixth consecutive monthly deficit and the largest on record for the month of March. Economists were expecting a deficit of $150 bln.
Outlays totaled $321.2 bln, a record for the month of March even though approximately $15 bln in last month's benefit payments were added to February's deficit because of a calendar shift. Receipts in March totaled $129 bln, down 52.6% from the same month in FY 2008.
The deficit for the first six months of the fiscal year 2009 totaled a record $956.8 bln. Outlays in the FYTD 2009 totaled a record $1.95 trln, while revenues totaled $990 bln.
Approximately $2.9 bln in March outlays were related to Treasury's Troubled Asset Relief Program. Over the fiscal year to date, TARP outlays totaled $293.4 bln, but Treasury noted that it has received about $3 bln in dividends from the program. The administration's Housing and Economic Recovery Act contributed $46 bln to March outlays, with Fannie Mae (FNM - news - people) receiving $15.2 bln of the money and Freddie Mac (FRE - news - people) receiving $30.8 bln.
Outlays totaled $321.2 bln, a record for the month of March even though approximately $15 bln in last month's benefit payments were added to February's deficit because of a calendar shift. Receipts in March totaled $129 bln, down 52.6% from the same month in FY 2008.
The deficit for the first six months of the fiscal year 2009 totaled a record $956.8 bln. Outlays in the FYTD 2009 totaled a record $1.95 trln, while revenues totaled $990 bln.
Approximately $2.9 bln in March outlays were related to Treasury's Troubled Asset Relief Program. Over the fiscal year to date, TARP outlays totaled $293.4 bln, but Treasury noted that it has received about $3 bln in dividends from the program. The administration's Housing and Economic Recovery Act contributed $46 bln to March outlays, with Fannie Mae (FNM - news - people) receiving $15.2 bln of the money and Freddie Mac (FRE - news - people) receiving $30.8 bln.
It was not initially clear why Reuters wrote “bln” instead of "billion" in this report. But I have since discovered that the American government is spending so much money so quickly that the world is not only running out of “zeros” -- it is running out of the letter “O” [pronounced "Oh!" as in "Oh!Bama!"] because "O" closely resembles “0" [as in "Oh. Zero."].
