A continued decline in the federal budget deficit this year is resulting in a better than expected fiscal forecast for 2013 from the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office.
The CBO projects a $642 billion budget deficit for fiscal year 2013, down more than $200 billion from its February estimate and the smallest annual shortfall since 2008. It is the lowest level of deficit spending to date under President Obama, who faced $1 trillion or more in annual deficits during his first term.
According to CBO, about half of the increase in revenues over the next two years are from new tax rules, such as higher rates and expiration of certain deductions. Revenue is also up due to "factors related mainly to the strengthening economy" including increases in "some components of taxable income" such as wages and capital gains.
According to Investors.com:
Believe it or not, the federal deficit has fallen faster over the past three years than it has in any such stretch since demobilization from World War II.
In fact, outside of that post-WWII era, the only time the deficit has fallen faster was when the economy relapsed in 1937, turning the Great Depression into a decade-long affair.
Gee, just imagine how much faster it would fall if the Republicans would allow President Obama to do his damn job!
Of course the Right Wing categorizes this under, "Just another attempt by the President to distract us from Benghazi."
(H/T to Politicususa.)
Oh, you just watch, they'll take credit for this somehow. It just boggles my MIND how anyone with any shred of intelligence can't see right through them. I must commend our President for his incredible restraint. Someone has to be the adult in the room!
ReplyDeleteAs for Benghazi, Rachel did it again!
http://maddowblog.msnbc.com/_news/2013/05/16/18295499-watching-a-scandal-evaporate-before-our-very-eyes?lite
Co-chairmen of independent Benghazi review blow the whistle on Darrell Issa
ReplyDeleteCNN's Jake Tapper delivers case of shoe meets other foot for Darrell Issa:
In a letter to Rep. Darrell Issa exclusively obtained by CNN, the co-chairmen behind an independent review of September's deadly attack in Benghazi, Libya, expressed irritation over the House Oversight Committee chairman's portrayal of their work and requested he call a public hearing at which they can testify.
"The public deserves to hear your questions and our answers," wrote former Ambassador Thomas Pickering and former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Adm. Mike Mullen, co-chairmen of the Accountability Review Board that was convened to investigate the September 11th attack.
Last weekend, Issa said he would consider letting Pickering and Mullen testify, but only behind closed doors. Apparently, letting the co-chairman of the independent Benghazi review board testify in an open hearing would be too partisan:
The fact is, we don't want to have some sort of a stage show. We had fact witnesses. They testified. We have the Ambassador and Admiral Mullen who conducted and oversaw the [independent review]. We're inviting them on Monday. We'll go through, not in front of the public, but in a nonpartisan way.
That's obviously a load of bull. The real reason Issa doesn't want a public hearing because hearing from the independent Benghazi review board won't serve his narrow partisan interests. And Pickering and Mullen are calling Issa out for his double standard:
But the two assert in their letter that a public hearing is a "more appropriate forum" and accuse Issa of changing his "position on the terms of our appearance."
The full letter is here.
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2013/05/16/1209494/-Co-chairmen-of-independent-Benghazi-review-blow-the-whistle-on-Darrell-Issa
In Two Hours Obama Destroys the GOP’s Benghazi and IRS Scandals
ReplyDeleteJust as Republicans and their media lackeys were getting their Obama scandal machine fired up, President Obama killed both the Benghazi and IRS “scandals” in a couple of hours.
The president put a stake through the heart of the GOP’s attempts to revive Benghazi by releasing 100 pages of emails. (Now, the world can see how badly Jon Karl and ABC News got played when they used the summaries of someone else’s notes.) The Washington Post’s Greg Sargent published an email from Tommy Vietor, who until recently was the spokesperson for the National Security Council. Vietor wrote, “Regarding the talking points, it’s not surprising that the entire government would want the chance to look at and edit that language. This was a dynamic situation and new information was constantly flowing in, and different agencies had important concerns that had to be addressed – the State Department had security concerns, the FBI was worried about its investigation, and the CIA had a major, yet still undisclosed, role.”
Republicans are putting out vague statements about contradictions, but Benghazi is pretty much finished as a scandal. It is difficult to accuse the White House of a cover up, when they’ve released all the emails.
The second part of the one-two punch was Obama speaking about the IRS scandal.
Video:
http://www.politicususa.com/hours-obama-destroys-gops-benghazi-irs-scandals.html
ScandalFest 2013: The Beltway Media’s Self-Interested Obama Pile On
ReplyDeleteLast week the Beltway media kicked off ScandalFest 2013, their periodic celebration of talking point transcription and self-righteousness disguised as investigative journalism.
http://www.politicususa.com/scandalfest-2013-beltway-medias-self-interested-obama-pile.html
Like facts of this sort are going to impress the Repubes. You KNOW they only accept the CBO's information when it supports THEM!
ReplyDeleteThey even have gone so far as to demand the CBO make changes to reports!
Facts don't MEAN anything to those people!
Well, they'll just have to go to "Plan B" - bring up a vote to repeal Obamacare, then start at BENGHAZI and IRS, again
ReplyDeleteFor example, 31 seconds of a different shade of WTF? -
Michele Bachman (who's under ethics violations inquiries) - calls for Impeachment of President Obama.
“I will tell you, as I have been home in my district, in the sixth district of Minnesota, there isn’t a weekend that hasn’t gone by that someone says to me, ‘Michele, what in the world are you all waiting for in Congress? Why aren’t you impeaching the president? He’s been making unconstitutional actions since he came into office.”
ww.politicususa.com/investigation-ethics-violations-michele-bachmann-urges-obama-impeachment.html