by Calculated Risk on 5/04/2005 11:48:00 PM

Here is the current Year over Year deficit number (May 1, 2004 to May 1, 2005 - closest non-weekend dates used). As of May 2, 2005 our National Debt is:

$7,754,579,738,148.68 (Almost $7.8 Trillion)

As of May 3, 2004, our National Debt was:

$7,105,796,969,042.55

So the General Fund has run a deficit of $648.8 Billion over the last 12 months. SOURCE: US Treasury

Of course the Washington Post exaggerates the improvement "Tax Receipts Exceed Treasury Predictions." First, they report the Enron style budget ... , uh, Unified budget. Second, they are wrong about the size of the improvement in the deficit. They are correct when they report that "... the positive turn is likely to be short-lived".


Click on graph for larger image.

For comparison:

For Fiscal 2004 (End Sept 30, 2004): $596 Billion

For Jan 1, 2004 to Jan 1, 2005: $609.8 Billion

For Feb 1, 2004 to Feb 1, 2005: $618.6 Billion

For Mar 1, 2004 to Mar 1, 2005: $635.9 Billion

For Apr 1, 2004 to Apr 1, 2005: $660.9 Billion

For May 1, 2004 to May 1, 2005: $648.8 Billion

A slight improvement.

NOTE: I use the increase in National Debt as a substitute for the General Fund deficit. For technical reasons this is not exact, but it is close. Besides I think this is a solid measure of our indebtedness; it is how much we owe!