By Robert Schroeder –
WASHINGTON — The U.S. government finished fiscal 2012 with a deficit of $1.089 trillion, the Treasury Department reported Friday, a smaller gap than in the prior year but still the fourth straight year with a $1 trillion-plus shortfall.
Compared to the full year of fiscal 2011, the deficit for all of 2012 is about 16 percent lower, thanks to both increased revenue and decreased spending.
The deficit amounts to 7 percent of the nation’s GDP, according to the Treasury.
The government ran a surplus of $75 billion in September, Treasury said in its monthly budget statement, the second monthly surplus of the fiscal year and the biggest surplus since April 2008.
The government’s fiscal year runs from Oct. 1 to Sept. 30.
The full-year figure comes about a month before voters go to the polls and choose President Barack Obama or former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney for the White House.
Deficit reduction has been a major component of the 2012 presidential race, with Romney frequently citing Obama-era shortfalls. Both men pledge to cut the deficit but differ dramatically on how: Obama wants Bush-era tax cuts on wealthy earners to expire; Romney would attack the deficit with spending cuts.
The Obama campaign claims that Romney’s tax plan would add $5 trillion to the deficit, a charge denied by Romney’s running mate Paul Ryan in his debate with Vice President Joe Biden on Thursday night.
The 2012 shortfall is lower than previous Obama administration forecasts. In a statement, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said Obama continues to press for a “balanced proposal” to cut deficits and strengthen the economy.
“It is time for Congress to act on these necessary steps that will help create sustainable economic growth for years to come,” Geithner said.
For the entire 2012 fiscal year, the U.S. spent about $3.5 trillion, a decrease of 2 percent from 2011. Overall revenues were up 6 percent.
With the full fiscal year results, the White House can point to an improving deficit picture. Republicans are almost certain to trumpet the fact that the full-year number remains stuck above $1 trillion.
“The government ran a surplus of $75 billion in September”
Wow, who would ever guessed that could or would happen??? And just before an election too! What are the chances???
We have been spending more than we take in for a lot longer than 4 years. Do you remember the president who got us into 2 wars without having a method to pay for them? I do. DO NOT blame the deficit on one man or one presidency. That is insane.
Obama deepened our debt as much in 3 years as Bush did in 8 years. And plenty of democrats voted for those 2 wars, including Joe Biden, Hillary Clinton, and many others. They saw the same intelligence as President Bush had.
http://www.skymachines.com/US-National-Debt-Per-Capita-Percent-of-GDP-and-by-Presidental-Term.htm
I disagree. obmama is in charge, he is president. It’s his budget, his spending. He and he alone have made a big problem just that much bigger! He owns it, however like a typical liberal, he and his minions choose to play the blame game and pass the buck!
Tell this to all the obama deadbeats who don’t care.
Yes, this is very scary. Next year we will have a budget. It may not balance until 2014. Mitt will need some time to cut Obama’s excesses and get rid of the fraud. I hope he’s a good hatchet man and gets rid of a bunch of Czars right away.
Katie do you know what Valerie Garrets job is at the White House? Or is she the Obama Monika? I think she must have some influence on him wanting to give all the Illegals amnesty
Doesn’t this scare everyone? It really should. If you ran your personal finances this way you would be bankrupt in seconds. This is what happens when you don’t have a budget for 4 years. You spend more than you take in. I don’t know about the rest of you but I learned this in Economics 101. What a bunch of IDIOTS-vote them all out and put in term limits so it can’t happen again.