Friday, May 14, 2010

John Galt Reports for Duty in April

Reuters reports U.S. posts 19th straight monthly budget deficit:
The United States posted an $82.69 billion deficit in April, nearly four times the $20.91 billion shortfall registered in April 2009 and the largest on record for that month, the Treasury Department said on Wednesday.

It was more than twice the $40-billion deficit that Wall Street economists surveyed by Reuters had forecast and was striking since April marks the filing deadline for individual income taxes that are the main source of government revenue.
They seem surprised. Why? Unemployment was way up in 2009. Even those people who were only out of work for a little while, would likely have made less money than projected prior to their unemployment. As a result, their with-holdings early in the year would have been too high for their total yearly earnings resulting in a tax refund after they filed. Look. A progressive tax system only works well when the country is creating more and more top tax bracket wage slaves. That's the kind of behavior the present administration has endeavored to discourage.

The article goes on to note that the US Government's receipts for April 2010 were $245.37B, down from $266.21 in April 2009. Since quarterly taxes are also due April 15th, it stands to reason that a portion of that $21B fall in revenue was caused by people either going Galt or deciding that they've "made enough money."

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