Republican posturing on the deficit has always been a con game

[Cigar]

Krugman: Fiscal cliff 'has finally laid bare the con ... of the G.O.P.'s political strategy'

In the ongoing battle of the budget, President Obama has done something very cruel. Declaring that this time he won’t negotiate with himself, he has refused to lay out a proposal reflecting what he thinks Republicans want. Instead, he has demanded that Republicans themselves say, explicitly, what they want. And guess what: They can’t or won’t do it.

... And there’s a reason for this reticence. The fact is that Republican posturing on the deficit has always been a con game, a play on the innumeracy of voters and reporters. Now Mr. Obama has demanded that the G.O.P. put up or shut up — and the response is an aggrieved mumble.

... Now Republicans find themselves boxed in. With taxes scheduled to rise on Jan. 1 in the absence of an agreement, they can’t play their usual game of just saying no to tax increases and pretending that they have a deficit reduction plan. And the president, by refusing to help them out by proposing G.O.P.-friendly spending cuts, has deprived them of political cover. If Republicans really want to slash popular programs, they will have to propose those cuts themselves.

So while the fiscal cliff — still a bad name for the looming austerity bomb, but I guess we’re stuck with it — is a bad thing from an economic point of view, it has had at least one salutary political effect. For it has finally laid bare the con that has always been at the core of the G.O.P.’s political strategy.

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/03/op...et-mumble.html

[Peter1469]

The "fiscal cliff" cuts projected spending, it doesn't actually cut. It spends more than last year- just less that we assumed we would spend.

[waltky]

Granny says, "Dat's right - all dat money comin' in an' we still in debt - somebody must have dey's fingers inna pie...

$1,084,840,000,000: Taxes Set Record Through January; $7,133 Per Worker; Feds Still Run Deficit of $156,939,000,000
February 10, 2017 | The U.S. Treasury hauled in a record of approximately $1,084,840,000,000 in tax revenues in the first four months of fiscal 2017 (Oct. 1, 2016 through Jan. 31, 2017), according to the Monthly Treasury Statement released today.

That is up about $5,616,000,000 in constant 2016 dollars from the approximately $1,079,224,000,000 in constant 2016 dollars that the Treasury collected in the first four months of fiscal 2016. Tax revenues from previous years, as reported in the Monthly Treasury Statement for January of each year, were adjusted to 2016 dollars using the Bureau of Labor Statistics Inflation Calculator. Despite collecting a record $1,084,840,000,000 in tax revenues in the first four months of this fiscal year, the federal government turned around and spent $1,241,780,000,000 in those same four months—and ended up running a deficit of $156,939,000,000.

In January alone, the Treasury collected approximately $344,069,000,000 in tax revenues. The largest portion of the $1,084,840,000,000 in federal tax revenues in the first four months of this fiscal year came from the individual income tax, which yielded approximately $550,068,000,000. The second largest portion came from Social Security and other payroll taxes, which brought in approximately $361,887,000,000.

The income taxes collected from corporations in the United States in the first four months of the fiscal year ($84,877,000,000) amounted to more than 7 times as much as the customs duties collected on foreign imports brought into the country ($11,779,000,000). According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, there were 152,081,000 people employed in the United States in January. That means that the record $1,084,840,000,000 in taxes the federal government collected in the first four months of the fiscal year equaled about $7,133 per worker.

http://www.cnsnews.com/news/article/...ll-run-deficit

[Safety]

It'll be interesting to see who cares, or will say they care now the GOP runs everything.

[DGUtley]

Pay-as-you-go. Balance the budget. Shrink Mordor.

[NapRover]

It'll be interesting to see who squeals since the trillions squandered on cronies now have to be borrowed to support infrastructure, including military and care for vets.

[waltky]

Granny says, Dat's right - dem politicians need to stop spendin' so much money...

Feds Collected Record Taxes in October; Still Ran $63 Billion Deficit
November 13, 2017 - The federal government hauled in record total tax revenues in the month of October, taking in a total of $235,341,000,000 during the first month of fiscal 2018, according to the Monthly Treasury Statement released today.

The federal government also brought in record individual income tax revenues for the month of October, taking in $127,832,000,000 in individual income taxes. Despite its record total tax intake of $235,341,000,000 for the month of October, the federal government still ran a deficit of $63,214,000,000 for the month because it spent $298,555,000,000.

Prior to this year, the largest federal tax haul in October came in fiscal 2017 (October 2016), when the Treasury took in $226,360,090,000 in total tax revenues in constant 2017 dollars. (Dollar amounts were adjusted to constant September 2017 dollars using the Bureau of Labor Statistics inflation calculator.)

Prior to that, fiscal 2015 (October 2014) saw the largest tax haul in October, with the Treasury taking in $221,128,030,000 in total revenues in constant 2017 dollars. This year’s record $127,832,000,000 in individual income taxes collected in October bettered the previous record which was set in October 2016 (the first month of fiscal 2017), when the Treasury collected $124,135,980,000 in individual income taxes in constant 2017 dollars.

The Treasury also collected $3,729,000,000 in corporate income taxes in October, as well as $84,018,000,000 in Social Security and other payroll taxes, $7,463,000,000 in excise taxes, $1,615,000,000 in estate and gift taxes, $3,239,000,000 in customs duties and $7,445,000,000 in other taxes and fees.

https://www.cnsnews.com/news/article...illion-deficit

[waltky]

Granny says, "Dat's right - dem politicians spendin' too much money we ain't got...

Feds Run $215 Billion Deficit in February
March 12, 2018 - The federal government ran a deficit of $215,248,000,000 in the month of February, while taking in $155,623,000,000 in taxes and spending $370,871,000,000, according to the Monthly Treasury Statement.

The deficit was the largest the federal government has run in February in five years (when the monthly deficits are compared in constant 2018 dollars adjusted using the Bureau of Labor Statistics inflation calculator). However, the monthly deficit was 11.27 times more than the $19,095,650,000 drop in taxes the American people saw in February 2018 compared to February 2017. The last time the February deficit exceeded $215 billion was in 2013, when Barack Obama was president. That year it hit $217,304,000,000 in constant January 2018 dollars. In fact, the February monthly deficit exceeded this year’s total of $215,248,000,000 in five of the eight years Obama was in office.

That was the case in 2009 ($226,450,680,000 in constant January 12018 dollars); 2010 ($252,633,560,000); 2011 ($249,208,760,000); 2012 ($252,237,220,000); and 2013 ($217,304,000,000). The federal government collected $19,095,650,000 less in taxes in February 2018 than it did in February 2017, according to the Monthly Treasury Statement. February was the second month that the tax cut signed in December by President Donald Trump was in effect. In January, the first month the Trump tax cut was in effect, the federal government ran a surplus of $49,237,000,000. At the same time that the federal government was collecting $19,095,650,000 less in taxes in February 2018 than it in February 2017, it was also running a February 2018 deficit that was $19,842,480,000 larger (in constant 2018 dollars) than the deficit it ran in February 2017.

In February 2017, the federal government collected $174,718,650,000 in total taxes (in January 2018 dollars). That was $19,095,650,000 more than the $155,623,000,000 in total taxes collected this February. This February, the federal government spent a total of $370,871,000,000. Last February, it spent $370,124,160,000 in constant January 2018 dollars. That made this February’s federal spending $746,840,000 more than last year’s. This year’s taxing and spending in February resulted in a deficit of $215,248,000,000 for the month. Last year’s taxing and spending in February resulted in a deficit of approximately $195,405,520,000 in constant January 2018 dollars. That made this year’s February deficit $19,842,480,000 larger than last year’s. The largest federal deficit ever recorded in February was in February 2010, when the deficit was $252,633,560,000 in constant January 2018 dollars.

From the Monthly Treasury Statement

In the years since 1981, the smallest the deficit has been in February was 1982, when it was $38,725,940,000 in constant January 2018 dollars. The February deficit first broke $100 million in 2002, when it hit $106,027,970,000 in constant January 2018 dollars. It first broke $200 million in 2008, when it hit $205,563,120,000; and it first broke $250 million in 2010, when it hit $252,633,560,000. So far in fiscal 2018, which began on October 1, the federal government has taken in a total of $1,286,172,000,000 in tax revenues, while spending $1,677,137,000,000 and running a deficit of $390,965,000,000. February is the shortest month of the year. In three out of four years, it has 28 days. In the fourth year, which coincides with U.S. presidential election years, a 29th day is added to February. Thus, in 2017 and 2018 there were 28 days in February.

https://www.cnsnews.com/news/article...ficit-february

See also:

Trump: 'I Am Calling on Congress to Block Funds' for Sanctuary Jurisdictions
March 12, 2018 - Attorney General Jeff Sessions is suing the state of California for its "sanctuary" immigration laws, and over the weekend, President Donald Trump urged Congress "to block funds for jurisdictions that shield dangerous criminals."

"Protecting the safety and well-being of American citizens is my highest duty as president," Trump said in his Saturday radio address. "Yet, lawless sanctuary jurisdictions are nullifying federal law, obstructing immigration enforcement, and releasing thousands of criminal aliens into U.S. communities to prey on innocent victims. It's absolutely terrible." Trump cited several examples where cities and states have denied a request from immigration officials to turn over violent criminal aliens.

He also criticized the mayor of Oakland, Calif. for giving the public advance warning of an impending ICE raid, "allowing criminal aliens time to "scatter and hide from authorities. The mayor's conduct directly threatened the safety of federal immigration officers and the law-abiding Americans in her community," the president said. Trump said the leaders of California are in "open defiance" of federal law, and "they don't care about the kind of things that you and I care about."

He also mentioned cases in New York and Denver, Colorado, where state and city authorities have refused to work with ICE: Sanctuary jurisdictions are the best friend of smugglers, gang members, drug dealers, human traffickers, killers, and other violent offenders. We want our cities to be sanctuaries for Americans, not safe havens for criminals. That is why I am calling on Congress to block funds for jurisdictions that shield dangerous criminals. It is time to end the bloodshed brought about by reckless sanctuary policies - and it is time to save American lives and American cities.

'Build that wall!'

At a campaign rally near Pittsburgh on Saturday night, President Trump drew cries of "build that wall" when he criticized Democrats for their immigration leniency: “So the Democrats are the party of sanctuary cities. Explain that one, right?" Trump told the crowd. “They like to protect criminals. They like to protect MS-13." Trump talked about ICE agents "being tough as hell," as they grab gang members "by the neck." "We're cleaning out," Trump promised. “Build that wall, build that wall,” the crowd chanted, interrupting him. "We are building the wall," Trump promised. "100 percent."

https://www.cnsnews.com/news/article...-jurisdictions

[donttread]

Five things the dems and repubs both have in common in action if not in rhetoric.

1) Spending
2) Government growth
3) Corporate welfare
4) Spying on the people
5) War