Feds Spent $142B on Thursday Alone—As Pols Dickered Over Cutting $33B or $40B for Rest of Year
Friday, April 08, 2011
By Terence P. Jeffrey House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) at the White House on Wednesday, April 6, 2011. (AP photo/Charles Dharapak)
(CNSNews.com) - The federal government spent $142.3 billion on Thursday alone, according to the Daily Treasury Statement released at 4:00 pm on Friday afternoon.
This $142.3 billion in spending took place on a day when the White House and congressional leaders were deadlocked over whether to cut between $33 billion and $40 billion in federal spending for the rest of the year.
To fund the $142.3 billion it spent on Thursday, the U.S. Treasury borrowed $132.8 billion during the day by selling new debt instruments—and almost all of these ($129.9 billion) were short-term Treasury bills that mature in one year or less.
By far, the federal government’s top expense on Thursday was paying off old debts that came due and that the government had a legal obligation to meet. During the day, Treasury reports, it paid off $130.75 billion in Treasury securities that had matured.
The other biggest expenses for the government on Thursday included $1.7 billion in Medicaid benefits, $1.133 billion in payments to defense contractors, $1.101 billion in Medicare benefits, and $853 million in salaries for federal workers.
After the $132.8 billion in new Treasury securities the government sold on Thursday, the second largest source of federal revenue for the day was tax receipts, which totaled $2.154 billion.
Because the combined total of the new money it borrowed and the total tax revenue it received on Thursday did not cover the day’s expenses, the Treasury drew down its cash balance by $6.022 billion during the day. By the close of business Thursday, the Treasury was left with just $41.951 billion in cash, down from the $309.833 billion cash balance it maintained at the beginning of the fiscal year on Oct. 1, 2010.
The current legal limit on the national debt, as set in a statute passed by Congress and signed by President Barack Obama, is $14.294 trillion. By the close of business Thursday, the debt subject to this limit had reached $14.211999 trillion—leaving the Treasury the legal authority to increase the debt by only another $82 billion.
They are taking a scalpel to an infestation that needs a chain saw and a little too late. The whole Obama administrations should be put on trial for treason! This is not liberty!
Yep. Funny how giving the taxpayers their money back, even a little, constitutes "draconian cuts, balancing the budget on the backs of the poor, tax cuts for the rich, less 'opportunity' for <insert any group here except white male Christians>, etc., etc" But reckless spending way beyond what we can pay for that is perfectly OK.
What a crock!
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I'm not sure that is entirely accurate. If I'm reading the article correctly, it looks like a large part of the "spending" was actually refinancing of existing debt. i.e. they took out new loans of $132 Billion at the same time they were paying off $130 billion of old loans, so the NET spending there is $2 Billion, not 132 Billion.
So, the NET effect is "We cut $33 Billion, and spent $12 Billion." Not quite as bad as the misleading headline...
My concern is, we were promised $100 Billion in cuts. Then $68 Billion in cuts. And end up with $33 Billion in cuts.
Last edited by ipscshooter; 04-11-2011 at 06:36 AM.
My concern is, we were promised $100 Billion in cuts. Then $68 Billion in cuts. And end up with $33 Billion in cuts.
Keep your eyes open. This is the ball game. I get the impression that the big fight will be the 2012 budget, and that Paul Ryan has a budget that seriously addresses our problems. I would be more inclined to judge them based on how they handle this first full budget year under their own control. If they muff that effort and don't have the courage to deliver what their constituents sent them up there to accomplish -- 100% of the representatives stand for election every year -- throw them out and replace them with those who promise to do better on this specific issue. I'm not sure the Republican leadership themselves have yet heard the message the electorate is delivering. Maybe they need a second election cycle, maybe they need some of their own sacred cows removed to get it?
I think we should vote every single one of the bums out--Senate, House and White House. Send a message even the dumbest politician will get--No more job for you.
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I think we should vote every single one of the bums out--Senate, House and White House.
+1
Throw every one of them out. None are worth keeping.
The approval rating of congress has been lower than whale crap for decades. Everyone complains about congress but keeps on voting for their congress criminal.
Just throw them all out. What a joke. I've posted the positions of real fighters up there in Washington. Replies, mostly silent on this board. Rand Paul was calling for 500 billion in cuts this year. Response, not enough detail. Just recently, Ryan's budget proposal, response, not sure how this effects me. In reality, even his budget doesn't go far enough but was drawn up mostly by both Republicans and Democrats
Either get behind the folks who are seriously looking at big cuts or just shut up. We can't and shouldn't continue down the path of freeloaders. SS, Medicare and Medicaid all need to end as we all know it!
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Just throw them all out. What a joke. I've posted the positions of real fighters up there in Washington. Replies, mostly silent on this board. Rand Paul was calling for 500 billion in cuts this year. Response, not enough detail. Just recently, Ryan's budget proposal, response, not sure how this effects me. In reality, even his budget doesn't go far enough but was drawn up mostly by both Republicans and Democrats
Either get behind the folks who are seriously looking at big cuts or just shut up. We can't and shouldn't continue down the path of freeloaders. SS, Medicare and Medicaid all need to end as we all know it!
Just shut up? Please explain in detail what is wrong with wanting to know the implications of the bill.
Ipsc, it comes down to everyone is going to be affected because everyone has their hand in the pie. Anytime any cut is proposed people take the position as long as it doesn't affect me.
Medicare and SS are the biggest problems we face but the least popular to cut. Eventhough many folks know its always been a ponzi scheme, they don't care. In the long run, it really doesn't matter if folks care or not because they will collapse everything. If we continue on our path, I would recommend shipping your money off shore to be prepared. Countries allow folks with money to imigrate for retirement.
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John Adams “The moment the idea is admitted into society that property is not as sacred as the laws of God, and that there is not a force of law and public justice to protect it, anarchy and tyranny commence.”
Ronald Reagan: 'Everybody that is for abortion has already been born'
"I never said I was worth it. I only said I wouldn't do it for less " William F. Buckley Jr.
We cut $33B and spent $142B?
