CBO Issues Monthly Budget Review

CBO issued its monthly review for June, finding that so far this year, the federal government has run a deficit of just over $1 trillion, $81 billion lower than over the same period last year. The drop in deficits is due to a decrease in outlays and a slight increase in revenues over last year.

Revenues have inched up by $8 billion this year, despite a drop in individual income and social insurance revenues. The increase is based on corporate income tax increases and higher receipts for the Federal Reserve due to their vast expansion of their balance sheet (see stimulus.org for details.)

The decrease in outlays comes despite increases in many programs in the budget, including defense, Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, and unemployment insurance. However, TARP program costs have dropped by about $250 billion from last year, actually gaining $110 billion for the federal government so far this year.

The June deficit comes in at $69 billion, $25 billion lower than last year, with all of that increase coming on the strength of revenue.