Despite a monthly record in receipts to the US Treasury, the federal government still managed to run a deficit in December. That’s because the federal government also broke a monthly spending record.
Even with the federal government ostensibly trying to limit spending with its head against the debt ceiling, it managed to run another massive deficit in November.
The budget shortfall last month was $191.34 billion, according to the latest Treasury Department statement. That was 31.7% higher than the November 2021 deficit.
After last week’s sizzling hot CPI data, inflation talk continues to dominate the news. The government and central bank have been insisting inflation is transitory. Now they’ve turned to a new spin tactic – recycling 1970s inflation propaganda.
Treasury Secretary and former Federal Reserve chair Janet Yellen appeared on Face the Nation and spent the interview lying about inflation. Peter Schiff unraveled her lies in his podcast.
The US government started fiscal 2022 the same way it ended fiscal 2021 — spending itself into a massive budget shortfall.
The budget deficit for October came in at $165.1 billion, according to the most recent monthly Treasury statement.
The federal budget deficit for fiscal 2021 came in at $2.77 trillion. It was the second-largest deficit in US history, just behind last year’s $3.13 trillion shortfall. Despite falling shy of the deficit record, Uncle Sam spent even more money in 2021 than it did during the depths of the 2020 coronavirus recession.
We have a temporary truce in the debt ceiling fight. On Thursday, President Biden signed a bill increasing the federal debt limit by $480 billion. But this isn’t an end to the debt ceiling fight. Congress just kicked the can down the road. The increase is only expected to keep the US government solvent until Dec. 3.
As Peter Schiff explained in this clip from his podcast, the debt ceiling has turned into a debt floor.
The US government ran a $170.64 billion budget deficit in August, pushing the total fiscal 2021 budget shortfall to $2.71 trillion with one month to go, according to the latest Monthly Treasury Statement.
The mainstream media spun this as good news, noting that the August deficit was 15% lower than the $200 billion spending gap a year ago. This was primarily a function of higher revenues in August 2021 compared to last year. But digging deeper into the numbers reveals the US government hasn’t exactly slowed down its out-of-control spending spree, with spending last month also up compared to last year.
This month marks the 50th anniversary of President Richard Nixon slamming shut the so-called “gold window” and severing the last ties between the dollar and gold.
On Aug. 15, 1971, Nixon ordered Treasury Secretary John Connally to uncouple gold from its fixed $35 price and suspended the ability of foreign banks to directly exchange dollars for gold. Nixon’s order was the end of a path off the gold standard that started during President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s administration, and it set the foundation for the massive government spending and inflation we’re dealing with today.
After a briefly shrinking for two months thanks to IRS tax collections, the US government budget deficit ballooned again in July, hitting the third-highest number of fiscal 2021.
The July budget shortfall was $302.05 billion. The only months with bigger deficits in fiscal 2021 were February ($310 billion) and March ($600 billion).
The US government ran yet another massive budget deficit in July. The shortfall was particularly larger on a month-on-month basis with tax season ending and the flow of money into the Treasury slowing. The following analysis puts digs deeper into the numbers and puts them into some historical context.
