2022 Deficit Remains Sky High

Media coverage insults our Truth!What? readers with article like the following;

U.S. budget deficit cut in half for biggest decrease ever amid Covid spending declines

The U.S. budget deficit was sliced in half for fiscal 2022, the biggest drop in history following two years of huge Covid-related spending.

CNBCJeff Cox

This article's argument is much like a store doubling it's price one week, then discounting 25% the next and proclaiming "the largest discounts we've ever offered!"  It's nonsense of course.

After years of outrageously high deficit spending, ostensibly related to the Covid pandemic, the fiscal 2022 deficit did indeed decline to $1.375 trillion from the previously scandalous $2.776 trillion of 2021.  This is a decline of 50%.  But giving credit for this is insulting at best.  Let's consider how this deficit stacks up against other recent years?

This deficit is so bad, that its insightful to compare it against previous decades:

So President Biden managed to achieve a 1 year deficit that is only slightly lower than the entire decade of the '80s, and 3% higher than the entire '90s.  That is impressive.  He also managed to generate a deficit that is 4.8% higher than the first 7 years of the 2000's as well.  His comparison appears saved by the 208% growth in year-over-year deficit in 2009 until we realize that is the first year of Obama/Biden and he really owns that too!

Just for reference, this dismal deficit performance comes side-by-side with the greatest Federal revenues (your tax dollars) in US history at $4.896 trillion!  This compares to $3.42 trillion in 2019. So despite bringing in more than $1.5T more in 2022 he still managed to deficit spend 40% higher.  You earn no credit for that.

Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said this performance “provides further evidence of our historic economic recovery, driven by our vaccination effort and the American Rescue Plan.”   Shame on you Secretary Yellen.  Shame on our news media for printing it.