Wednesday, July 15, 2009
Uncle Sam’s checkbook is seriously out of whack. With still three months to go in the current fiscal year, the federal government has already hit the trillion-dollar deficit mark for the first time ever in a yearly budget. According to figures released by the Department of the Treasury, the budget was $1.1 trillion in the hole as of the end of June, which was a particularly bad month that deepened the fiscal hole.
Ordinarily, the Treasury runs a surplus in June, like last year when it was $33.5 billion in the black. But for June 2009, spending totaled $309.7 billion, while revenue came in at $215.4 billion, leaving the month $94.3 billion in the red. This was the first time June recorded a deficit since 1991.
By the time the fiscal year closes in September, the budget deficit is expected to reach $1.84 trillion. That’s $6,000 over budget for the year for each American citizen. For those keeping score, the largest annual budget deficit prior to now was $454.8 billion, which occurred in 2008.
-Noel Brinkerhoff
U.S. Budget Gap Exceeds $1 Trillion for Fiscal Year (by Vincent Del Giudice, Bloomberg)
Meltdown 101: How Did $1 Trillion Deficit Happen? (by Martin Crutsinger, Associated Press)
Uncle Sam is $1 Trillion in the Hole (by Catherine Clifford, CNN Money)
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