Tornado Alley (PROG)

[StephanieVanbryce]

U.S. to run first surplus since 2008: CBO

Surplus is first of Obama’s presidency

By Robert Schroeder, MarketWatch May 7, 2012, 3:36 p.m. EDT

WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) — The U.S. government recorded a budget surplus of $58 billion in April, the Congressional Budget Office estimated on Monday, breaking a streak of deficits that began in 2008.

The surplus — the first of Barack Obama’s presidency — was the result of both increased tax collection and lower government spending. Before April, the government had not run a surplus since September 2008, the month that the financial crisis struck the U.S. economy. Read CBO report.

The CBO’s estimate is released before the Treasury Department’s monthly budget report. That report is scheduled for later this week.

CBO estimated that receipts were $30 billion higher in April than the same month a year ago, due to declining refunds that month and higher corporate income tax receipts. Spending fell by $69 billion compared to April 2011, marked by lower outlays on defense, Medicaid and the Postal Service.

Government spending and deficits are shaping up to be a main issue in the presidential campaign, and the monthly surplus is a piece of good news for Obama. Read more about Election 2012.

For the first seven months of the fiscal year, the CBO estimates that the Treasury will notch a deficit of $721 billion. That’s $149 billion less than the red ink reported for the same period in fiscal 2011.

The improved budget picture will not put an end to election-year sparring about the deficit, however. The U.S. is running a debt of $15.7 trillion, a number often pointed out by Obama’s Republican critics, including White House hopeful Mitt Romney.

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/us-to-run-first-surplus-since-2008-cbo-2012-05-07?reflink=MW_news_stmp

Can you just imagine the decrease in the deficit ...IF ... 'repuplicans' had cooperated with Obama's 'reduce spending, RAISE revenues' bills...a bit ... the pigs, they just can't wait to get in and give us all those unfunded TAX CUTS ONE more time .. TO BUSH/BUST the deficit again ... ..greedy pigs.