As Congress prepares to do battle over the 2011 federal budget, it is a good time to review what happened in 2010. Said differently, every American tax payer should have some interest in where their money went in 2010. (For related reading, also take a look at Breaking Down The U.S. Budget Deficit.)
A Troubling Imbalance
Right off the top there is some sobering math to consider. According to the General Accounting Office, the U.S. government spent $4.3 trillion in 2010. That stands in stark contrast to the $2.2 trillion in government revenues (which included $1.7 billion in personal income and payroll taxes). While not the point or focus of this piece, it is interesting to note that corporate taxes were $180 billion in 2010, up from $130 billion in 2009 (and down from the peak of $367 billion in 2007), but a rather small percentage of the total.
Technically, then, the U.S. government posted a $1.3 trillion deficit in 2010, down slightly from the $1.4 trillion deficit from 2009. Readers should note that changes in actuarial assumptions related to benefits, expenses, and obligations for veterans, military and civilian employees and government-sponsored enterprises reduce the deficit from the simple math of revenue minus expenses.
The full column can be found here:
http://financialedge.investopedia.com/financial-edge/0311/Where-Your-Tax-Dollars-Went-In-2010.aspx
No comments:
Post a Comment