US budget deficit hits record $221bn for one month

news.bbc.co.uk...

The US government recorded a budget deficit of $221bn (£147.6bn) in February - the largest monthly deficit in its history.

The total deficit since the beginning of the fiscal year in October now stands at $651.6bn, the figures from the US treasury show.

Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner called the deficit "unsustainable".

However, he maintained that running the deficit was helping the US continue its recovery from the recession in the short-term.

Like the UK, the US is suffering from a fall in tax receipts due to tough economic conditions, while relying on increased spending to drive the recovery.

But analysts called the figures "frightening".

wow...... geithner is a moron.. how the hell does running the debt to record levels gonna help us when its the problem??????? wtf is goin on?

reply to post by TheCoffinman


You know, I wish I could get a good game of poker going with these guys.

The way they lose money, it would be like taking candy from a baby.

Of course, they are spending our money like this, not theirs, so maybe they would be different at a poker table.

Hey, Geithner and Obama, how bout throwing me a couple billion, I have this idea on how to solve the problem.

You give me the billions, I buy an island, and problem solved, for me anyway.

People, we need to take the Free Staters idea and run with it. Everyone that is unemployed right now, come on up to Wisconsin and vote me in as governor. I will pull us out of the union and we can tell Washington to piss off.

How's that sound?

reply to post by TheCoffinman


People who don't understand the economy don't think debt is the problem. They blame it on illegal immigration and outsourcing of jobs overseas. That has nothing to do with the problem. With record illegal immigration and record outsourcing, unemployment was hitting record lows during the 90's.

The sharply increasing debt is doing absolutely nothing more than setting us up for a much nastier collapse. It is helping the GDP go up, sure. But the GDP is only a tiny part of the economy.

The one and only measure to be looking at to determine if the depression is over is the total debt load of the United States. And the same thing can be looked at in virtually every country, since virtually every country has excessive debt loads.

That's what you get letting the former head of Goldman-Sachs run your monitary policy. I remember when old Timmy was appointed. I just don't understand how Obama thought that the people who created the mess would know how to fix it. Good idea on the Wisconsin thing ive been doing a lot of research into the Freeman movement and it seems viable if hard.

reply to post by truthquest

That has nothing to do with the problem. With record illegal immigration and record outsourcing, unemployment was hitting record lows during the 90's.

Actually it has everything to do with the problem.. ya, we had "record lows" in the 90's-00's however middle class manufacturing jobs (wealth production) was replaced with Walmart quality jobs (wealth recycling and or loss) .. the Governments debt is hand in hand with tax receipts.. why is the deficit so high? Because millions are not paying taxes are they? Illegals, who ship billions OUT of the country, work for subpar wages, and often work under the table or falsify tax docs to receive more back than paid in. Not to mention the massive drain on the infrastructure, health care, education and so on. No, Illegals are a massive problem of epic proportions that is being completely ignored right now.

reply to post by Rockpuck


Also the value of the money kept declining yet wages never increased at the same rate.

The immigration problem had everything to do with this. Supply and demand. Labor is another commodity like any other.

Too many workers, wages stagnate.

wow...... geithner is a moron.. how the hell does running the debt to record levels gonna help us when its the problem??????? wtf is goin on?

Time to Indict Geithner for securities fraud? guilty of fraud, coercion, or securities manipulation LINK

“It appears that the New York Fed deliberately pressured AIG to restrict and delay the disclosure of important information to the S.E.C.,” Representative Issa said in an e-mailed statement. < that is obstruction of justice, a FELONY LINK