$2,446,920,000,000: Federal Taxes Set Record Through June; $16,451 Per U.S. Worker—Feds Still Run $313B Deficit

(CNSNews.com) - The federal government raked in a record of approximately $2,446,920,000,000 in tax revenues through the first nine months of fiscal 2015 (Oct. 1, 2014 through the end of June), according to the Monthly Treasury Statement released today.

That equaled approximately $16,451 for every person in the country who had either a full-time or part-time job in June.

It is also up about $178,156,270,000 in constant 2015 dollars from the $2,268,763,730,000 in revenue (in inflation-adjusted 2015 dollars) that the Treasury raked in during the first nine months of fiscal 2014.

Despite the record tax revenues of $2,446,920,000,000 in the first nine months of this fiscal year, the government spent $2,760,301,000,000 during those nine months, and, thus, ran up a deficit of $313,381,000,000 during the period.

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, total seasonally adjusted employment in the United States in June (including both full and part-time workers) was 148,739,000. That means that the federal tax haul so far this fiscal year has equaled $16,451 for every person in the United States with a job.

In 2012, President Barack Obama struck a deal with Republicans in Congress to enact legislation that increased taxes. That included increasing the top income tax rate from 35 percent to 39.6 percent, increasing the top tax rate on dividends and capital gains from 15 percent to 20 percent, and phasing out personal exemptions and deductions starting at an annual income level of $250,000.

An additional 3.8 percent tax on dividends, interests, capital gains and royalties--that was embedded in the Obamacare law--also took effect in 2013.

The largest share of this year’s record-setting October-through-June tax haul came from the individual income tax. That yielded the Treasury $1,167,500,000,000. Payroll taxes for “social insurance and retirement receipts” took in another $771,048,000,000. The corporate income tax brought in $255,453,000,000.

The business and economic reporting of CNSNews.com is funded in part with a gift made in memory of Dr. Keith C. Wold.

Via: CNS News

Continue Reading....

$2.1T: Tax Revenue for FY15 Hit Record Through May; Gov't Runs $365B Deficit

(CNSNews.com) - Inflation-adjusted federal tax revenues hit a record $2,103,987,000,000 for the first eight months of the fiscal year this May, but the federal government still ran a $365,156,000,000 deficit during that time, according to the latest Monthly Treasury Statement.

Each month, the Treasury publishes the government’s “total receipts,” including all revenue from individual income taxes, corporate income taxes, social insurance and retirement taxes (including Social Security and Medicare taxes), unemployment insurance taxes, excise taxes, estate and gift taxes, customs duties, and “miscellaneous receipts.”

In constant 2015 dollars, the $2,103,987,000,000 that the federal government collected from October through May in fiscal 2015 was $170,187,740,000 more than the $1,933,799,260,000 it collected in October through May in fiscal 2014.

The Treasury has been tracking these data since 1977 and at that time the federal government collected $868,767,320,000 in inflation-adjusted revenue in the first eight months of fiscal 1977. This means that since then, revenues have more than doubled, increasing by 142 percent.

Via: CNS News

Continue Reading.....

Tax Revenues Hit Record in First 5 Months of FY14; 5-Month Deficit Still $377B

(CNSNews.com) - Inflation-adjusted federal tax revenues hit a record $1,104,947,000,000 in the first five months of fiscal 2014, but the federal government still ran a $377,379,000,000 deficit during that time, according to the Monthly Treasury Statement for February.

Each month, the Treasury publishes the government’s “total receipts,” including all revenue from individual income taxes, corporate income taxes, social insurance and retirement taxes (including Social Security and Medicare taxes), unemployment insurance taxes, excise taxes, estate and gift taxes, customs duties, and “miscellaneous receipts.”

In constant 2014 dollars, the $1,104,947,000,000 that the federal government collected from October through February in fiscal 2014 was $90,193,750,000 more than the $1,014,753,250,000 it collected in October through February in fiscal 2013.

After the current fiscal year, the second highest federal tax intake in the first five months of a fiscal year occurred in the first five months of fiscal 2007, when the government collected $1,076,721,860,000 in 2014 dollars—or $28,225,140,000 less than in the first five months of this fiscal year.

Via: CNS News

Continue Reading.....

Obamacare Reg Treats Congress That Spent $3.5 Trillion as a ‘Small Business’

(CNSNews.com) - An Obamacare regulation issued by the Office of Personnel Management in October treats the U.S. Congress—which employs more than 11,000 staffers and which spent $4,329,000,000 on its own operations and $3,454,253,000,000 to fund the full government in fiscal 2013--as a “small business.”

OPM did this so that the Treasury can pay federal subsidies of up to $11,378 per year to help members of the House and Senate and their staff buy health-insurance plans in the Obamacare “Small Business Health Options Program” (SHOP) Marketplace set up for “small employers” in Washington, D.C.

The regulation treats this federal tax subsidy paid by the U.S. Treasury as if it were an “employer contribution” made by the owner of a small business.

Subsection D of Section 1312 of the 906-page Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act is entitled: “MEMBERS OF CONGRESS IN THE EXCHANGE.”

It says: “Notwithstanding any other provision of law, after the effective date of this subtitle, the only health plans that the Federal Government may make available to Members of Congress and congressional staff with respect to their service as a Member of Congress or congressional staff shall be health plans that are—(I) created under this Act (or an amendment made by this Act); or (II) offered through an Exchange established under this Act (or an amendment made by this Act).

Via: CNS News

Continue Reading....

$1.1T: CMS Sets Record for Annual Spending by a Federal Agency

(CNSNews.com) - The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, which runs the federal government’s major health-care programs as well as the Obamacare insurance exchange, spent $1,113,178,000,000 in fiscal 2013, according to the Monthly Treasury Statement for September, which was released last week.

That sets a record for the most money ever spent by a federal agency or department in a single year.

It also means CMS spent more in inflation-adjusted dollars than the entire federal government spent in 1965, when President Lyndon Johnson signed the legislation creating the Medicaid and Medicare programs.

In 1965, the entire federal government spent $118,228,000,000 in 1965 dollars, according to the Office of Management and Budget. That converts to $878,824,380,000 in 2013 dollars, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics inflation calculator.

In 2010, CMS became the first federal agency to spend more than a trillion dollars, when it spent $1,035,783,000,000. In 2011, CMS spent $1,095,406,000,000; in 2012, it spent $1,052,799,000,000; and, in 2013, it spent a record $1,113,178,000,000.

Via: CNS News
Continue Reading.....

ACTUALLY, OBAMA 'MANUFACTURED' THE CRISIS

The White House and its press corps have come to a consensus that the recent shutdown/debt limit debate was a "manufactured crisis"--the implication being that it was manufactured by Republicans. That is untrue--first because President Barack Obama and the Democrats could easily have averted a crisis if they had been willing to compromise, and second because forcing such confrontations has been their strategy since 2011. 

The debt limit was not a priority for the Tea Party until the Democrats made it one. In the 2010 elections, the subject almost never came up. There was certainly no plan to shut down the government if the Republicans did not get their way. Rather, interest in these confrontations came from the Democrats and the Obama administration, who saw the 1995-6 crises as models for how to defeat congressional Republicans.

That is why, as the 112th Congress took office, Secretary of the Treasury Tim Geithner sent new Speaker John Boehner a letter warning of the consequences of failing to raise the debt limit. The new Congress had no plans to block an increase. But like George Stephanopoulos's infamous question about contraception early in the 2012 Republican presidential debates, Geithner's letter intended to make the debt limit an issue.

At the same time that Geithner was highlighting the debt ceiling, Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) was doing all he could to goad Republicans into shutting down the government. The new Congress had barely taken their seats when he accused them of trying to force a confrontation over the continuing resolution to fund the government--a measure necessary only because the last Congress had not resolved the federal budget.

Via: Breitbart

Continue Reading......

U.S. debt jumps a record $328 billion — tops $17 trillion for first time

U.S. debt jumped a record $328 billion on Thursday, the first day the federal government was able to borrow money under the deal President Obama and Congress sealed this week.

The debt now equals $17.075 trillion, according to figures theTreasury Department posted online on Friday.

---

PHOTOS: President Obama's favorite footstool: The famous Resolute desk

---

The $328 billion increase shattered the previous high of $238 billion set two years ago.

The giant jump comes because the government was replenishing its stock of “extraordinary measures” — the federal funds it borrowed from over the last five months as it tried to avoid bumping into the debt ceiling.

Under the law, that replenishing happens as soon as there is new debt space.

Enlarge Photo

(Treasury Department) more >

In this case, the Treasury Department borrowed $400 billion from other funds beginning in May, awaiting a final deal from Congress and Mr. Obama.

Usually Congress sets a borrowing limit, or debt ceiling, that caps the total amount the government can be in the red.

But under the terms of this week’s deal, Congress set a deadline instead of a dollar cap. That means debt will rise by as much as the government spends between now and the Feb. 7 deadline.

---

PHOTOS: Royals really are different: Kate Middleton plays volleyball in heels

---

Judging by the rate of increase over the last five months, that could end up meaning Congress just granted Mr. Obama a debt increase of $700 billion or more.

Via: Washington Times

Continue Reading.....

CHART: WHO DOES THE U.S. GOV’T OWE $17 TRILLION TO?

The U.S. government owes a lot of money.

A lot.

In fact, U.S. debt today stands at about $17 trillion.

Obviously, that’s a little difficult to understand with just words.

So here to help you visualize the debt situation in the U.S. — and help you understand where money is owed — is a helpful chart from National Public Radio:

National Public Radio

Here are some key takeaways [as presented by Business Insider]:

• We owe most of the money to ourselves.
• We owe a big chunk of the money — about $6 trillion — to the Federal government. So if there ever were a default (hopefully there won’t be) the government would also be stiffing itself.
• We owe about $5 trillion to other countries, including China.
• The total debt to China is only $1.3 trillion. So we’re not in hock to China as much as some people think we are.
• Yes, it’s a boatload of debt. But the experience of Japan, the U.S. after World War 2, and other countries, suggests that it’s a manageable amount, as long as we eventually get our long-term entitlement spending under control.

Click here to read the full NRP article on the U.S.’ debt load.

Via: The Blaze

Continue Reading.....

Government Shut Down, But Tax Collections Up

In the first nine days of October, while the federal government was in what is commonly being called a shutdown, federal tax collections went up.

Last year, from Oct. 1 through Oct. 9, 2012, according to the Daily Treasury Statement, the federal government collected $55.235 billion in total tax revenues. This year, from Oct. 1 through Oct. 9, 2013, according to the Daily Treasury Statement, the federal government collected $56.188 billion in total tax revenues.

During nine days of a shutdown this year, the federal government collected $953 million more in taxes than it did in the same nine calendar days last year--when it was open for business.

Clearly, being shutdown does not mean the government is shut out of the taxpayers’ pocketbook.

Via: CNS News

Continue Reading.....

[VIDEO] 15 Indiana School Districts File Lawsuit Over Obamacare

Complaint states law will cause 'catastrophic financial consequences'

Fifteen Indiana school districts and the State of Indiana filed a lawsuit involving Obamacare, Fox59 in Indianapolis reports:

The suit names the Internal Revenue Service, the United States Department of the Treasury and the United States Department of Health and Human Services as defendants. Indiana is the lead plaintiff in the suit.

The lawsuit revolves around the ACA’s mandate that employers provide health insurance to all employees who work more than 30 hours per week. According to the lawsuit, the Affordable Care Act will impose significant penalties on employers who fail to provide all of their full-time workers with affordable, minimum coverage. The state and schools said the penalties would result in “catastrophic financial consequences for Indiana public school corporations.”

To avoid those repercussions, school districts have reduced the hours for non-benefit eligible employees like bus drivers, instructional aides, cafeteria workers and substitute teachers. Schools said the long-term effects of these reduced hours will have a “long-term detrimental impact” on the education of Hoosier students.

The lawsuit challenges new IRS regulations involving the ACA. It also questions the authority of the federal government to impose the employer mandate on the State of Indiana and its public schools.

Via: WFB

Continue Reading....

Now It’s Time for Full Throttle Defund of Obamacare

The House plans to pass a bill to raise the debt limit by $117 billion, bringing the new deadline to November 22.  The bill will specifically prohibit the Treasury Department from using extraordinary measures to concoct an arbitrary crisis deadline.

Conservatives can debate the prudence of this particular strategy, but the more important question is what comes after the vote on this bill.  The establishment has been trying to conflate the budget battle with the debt ceiling and transform our priorities into extraneous policy issues that are not nearly as serious and as pressing as Obamacare.

Now they have no excuse to ignore the Obamacare fight.

[Parenthetically, this delay should also preclude any effort to bring up amnesty this year.]

Once the debt ceiling is pushed into November, Republicans must all unite behind full defunding of Obamacare.  No talk about taxes, Social Security, or Medicare.  No talk about a grand bargain or vague fiscal agreements. With premiums skyrocketing, implementation of Obamacare crashing, and massive dependency right around the corner, we don’t have time for other policy fights.  This is the one the public sees most, and this is the one we must message throughout the Democrat shutdown.

Our message is very simple: this law was passed using the budget process to circumvent a higher vote threshold.  Now that the law is proven to be unworkable, it will be uprooted through the budget process.  We are willing to fund every other aspect of government, including those functions we oppose, except for Obamacare and the agencies tasked with enforcing it.

Unfortunately, there are those in the party who are not only distracting us with other issues but are also watering down our messaging on Obamacare.  Mitch McConnell and Susan Collins are committed to making this fight about repealing the medical device tax.  Obviously, the end-point of the negotiations would be a mere delay of that tax.

Via: Red State

Continue Reading.....

Moody’s on Debt Limit: Calling Obama’s Bluff on Default

A voice of reason emerged today among the doomsday predictions over a U.S. government default if the debt limit is not raised by mid-October. The Washington Post reports that Moody’s, a top credit rating service, suggested that hitting the debt limit does not mean the U.S. would default:

“We believe the government would continue to pay interest and principal on its debt even in the event that the debt limit is not raised, leaving its creditworthiness intact,” the memo says. “The debt limit restricts government expenditures to the amount of its incoming revenues; it does not prohibit the government from servicing its debt. There is no direct connection between the debt limit (actually the exhaustion of the Treasury’s extraordinary measures to raise funds) and a default.”

In recent weeks, President Obama and Treasury Secretary Jack Lew have made the rounds, arguing vociferously that if Congress does not raise the debt limit by October 17, the U.S. could default and “economic chaos” would ensue. The Treasury Department put out an entire report on the damaging consequences of a government default. The President even went so far as to call it an “economic shutdown” and began scaring seniors, suggesting that their Social Security benefit checks wouldn’t arrive on time.

Via: The Foundry

Continue Reading....

Reality check: The United States has added two times more debt than wealth in the past two years

It’s mighty tempting to look at the current shutdown/debt-ceiling fight as some kind of perverse abstraction, and to dismiss all of the hijinks on Capitol Hill and in the White House as exhibitions happening merely for their own political sakes — i.e., to completely divorce it all from the real reason we’re actually here right now. We are a stone’s throw away from$17 trillion in national debt, with absolutely zero plans to even just stop aggressively addingto that number, let alone come anywhere close to simply breaking even. So many liberals are so blithely convinced that ‘we face no impending debt crisis’ and that the simple legislative act of once again raising the debt ceiling has no substantive reason to devolve into such a circus — but here’s a handy little chart to consider, first posted by the Weekly Standard from the Senate Budget Committee:

…When the Treasury department started using so-called extraordinary measures to avoid a breach of the debt ceiling in May, 2011, the debt limit stood at $14,294 billion.

“Today it stands at $16,699 billion, which was reached when Treasury started using extraordinary measures in May of this year.  That’s a $2,405 billion increase in 2 years.

“Meanwhile, the economy, as measured by GDP only increased by $1,199 billion between the second quarter of 2011 and the second quarter of this year.

Read: The amount of debt we incurred over the past two years was double the amount of wealth we added to our GDP; or, the rate at which our debt is growing is two times the rate at which our economy is growing — and Democrats’ only proffered solutions to this entirely unsustainable scenario are 1) increasing government spending and 2) raising taxes. Awesome.

Via: Hot AIr

Continue Reading.....

OBAMA’S RECKLESS DEFAULT FEAR-MONGERING

Never before has an American president threatened and risked the U.S. economy and financial markets the way Barack Obama has in recent days. For his own narrow political ends, Obama and his minions have actually accused the Republican party of deliberately provoking a Treasury debt default because they don’t agree with the Obama position on the continuing budget resolution and the debt ceiling.

“As reckless as a government shutdown is … an economic shutdown that results from default would be dramatically worse,” Obama said on Thursday. Clearly targeting Republicans, he said a default would be “the height of irresponsibility.”

Then, on the same day, Obama’s Treasury Department released a brutal statement that said a default would prove catastrophic, causing credit markets to freeze and leading to “a financial crisis and recession that could echo the events of 2008 or worse.”

So who exactly in the Republican ranks is calling for a Treasury debt default? Who? The GOP disagrees with Obama on the budget and health care, but no Republicans have ever said they favor defaulting on the nation’s debt.

What’s going on here?

Via: Human Events

Continue Reading.....

Social Security Administration instructs employees to warn recipients about debt ceiling

Social Security Administration employees are being instructed to tell people who ask that if the debt ceiling is not raised, their social security benefits could be in danger.

In an email sent Friday, obtained by The Daily Caller, employees are instructed:

“If a member of the public asks whether their Social Security payment will be affected if the federal debt ceiling is not raised, you may give the following response:
‘Unlike a federal shutdown which has no impact on the payment of Social Security benefits, failure to raise the debt ceiling puts Social Security benefits at risk.’

“Direct all program–related and technical questions to your supervisor.”

According to the Treasury, the U.S. will reach its borrowing limit on October 17, and if the debt ceiling is not raised before then, the country will default on its debt.

“In a government shutdown, Social Security checks still go out on time,” President Barack Obama said Thursday, the Huffington Post reported. “In an economic shutdown, if we don’t raise the debt ceiling, they don’t go out on time.”

Via: Daily Caller

Continue Reading....