Tax Facts
From the most recent report from the Congressional Budget Office:
1. Corporate income tax revenues almost doubled over the last two years, from $189 billion in 2004 to $354 billion in FY 2006.
2. Corporate income tax receipts rose by 27.2% from FY 2005 to FY 2006.
3. Individual income tax revenues increased by 12.6% in 2006 to more than $1 trillion, the highest level in US history.
4. The budget deficit, as a percent of GDP, fell to 1.9% in FY 2006, the lowest level in 4 years, and well below the average of 2.3% since 1965.
2 Comments:
OK, so that's the good news. Here's the bad news: We are somewhere between 8 and 9 Trillion dollars in debt!
Here's some other numbers about the federal debt over 30 years as a percentage change of federal debt/Gross Domestic Product (GDP) from when each President entered office and when he left office:
Carter -8.01%
Reagan + 49.74%
GHW Bush +27.52%
Clinton -8.33%
GW Bush (2000-2004) +9.83%
GW Bush (2004-2006 est.) +5.97%
(Source: Historical Tables, Budget of the United States Fiscal Year 2006 (pages 118-119) http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/budget/fy2006/pdf/hist.pdf
I am not sure what these numbers mean for the current generation. I had my best earning years by far during the Reagan years and my worst earning years during the Carter years, but it sure seems like we are saddling the next generation with a whole lot of debt.
The interest on the federal debt alone is over 300 billion dollars a year. That's the third largest item in this year's budget. Only defense and Health Education and Welfare (HEW) spending surpasses it.
Isn't this sort of like getting cash advances on a lot of credit cards and only paying the minimum payment? Everyone knows that's not good budget management for individuals: Is it good government policy?
Dear Walt,
Your analysis is quite sobering and more importantly alarming. However, there are many republicans who are just too shallow and stubborn to even consider that Regan's and Bush's fiscal policies have been disastrous. It reminds me of the saying "don't let the facts get in the way of my opinion." These people seem to me to be high on something - they just don't get it.
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