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PrintMarch 8, 2011
The $223 Billion February Deficit in Perspective
The Washington Times reports that the federal deficit for February 2011, was approximately $223 billion. No I didn't write 2.23 billion dollars. It is $223 billion; a record for one month. Here is some context:
- Dividing the $223 billion in the 28 days of February amounts to $7.9 billion in new debt per day.
- Republicans are trying to cut spending by $60 billion for the remaining seven months of the current budget year. This is $8.57 billion in cuts per each month. No, not per day. $8.57 per month.
- The $4 billion in "cuts" that Republicans won last week, is equivalent to the amount debt raised in any given 12-13 hours, (hours that is), of a day in February.
- If we divide in twelve months the $412 billion deficit of FY 2004 ($34.43 billion per month), the largest deficit year of President Bush and the recent Republican Congress, it is less debt than any five days of this past February.
- The $690 billion "cost" over ten year of Bush's tax cuts for the top two percent richest Americans, amounts to $69 per year; $5.75 billion per month, or perhaps approximately $200 million per day divided in 365 days. Again, $200 million per day (give or take a few million)is the"costs" of tax cut, while new overall debt per day rises by $7.9 billion.
With this in mind, one wonders how cutting a mere $60 billion spread through the next seven month, would make any negative dent in the jobs market as some economists warned, or a dent in important programs as democrats - who via ObamaCare ripped $500 billion out of Medicare -- warned. Besides, if a $787 billion stimulus funded between 1.3 and 3.5 million jobs, how can cutting only sixty billion suddenly cost up to 700,000 jobs?
