GraniteGrok

Well, this is good news, as it has been for quite some time.  I notice that the new leaders in the House and Senate (Speaker Pelosi and Leader Reid) have not said much about this - er, pretty much add most of the Dems on this.

And so little from the Fifth Column Estate too!  Guess it just doesn't fit with the mantra that the rich are not paying their fair share too (see here).

WASHINGTON, Jan 12 (Reuters) - The U.S. government posted a $44.54-billion budget surplus in December, a record for the month, and took in the highest level of tax receipts that it has ever collected in any December, the Treasury Department said on Friday.

Now, the story is that because the rich have lower marginal rates, they have an advantage over the poor.  Well, they do, but not the one you think.  Sure, they have more money, but think about how most rich people get rich.  No, they don't inherit it - they EARN it.  They have more motivation, a higher willingness to work harder and longer, and generally are smarter (and luck can help too!).

That is an advantage that seems to get lost in shuffle.  But how does this affect the surplus?

The rich are smart about their riches - while much may be parked in muni bonds (tax free, you see), they are going to use it to create more wealth.  Which means more taxes for the government from personal income taxes (the relative percentage paid by the rich is growing, not shrinking) as well as from "general commerce". 

Last month's surplus was four times bigger than the $10.97 billion surplus a year earlier, in December 2005. Department officials said it surpassed the previous record December surplus of $33 billion that was reached in 1999.

It far surpassed Wall Street analysts' forecasts for a $20-billion surplus and helped put the government on the road to a much lower deficit number for at least the beginning of the current fiscal year.

This is GREAT news...yet, where in the MSM are you hearing about a drop of 33% in the deficit from last year? 

So far during the first three months of fiscal 2007, the government's total deficit has shrunk to $80.4 billion, far smaller than the $119.38-billion deficit in the first three months of fiscal 2006.

Treasury said the deficit for the first three months of fiscal 2007 was the lowest for the comparable period since 2002 when it was $37 billion.

While the government's income was at record levels in December, its spending fell from a year earlier. Total outlays were $215.43 billion, compared with $230.92 billion in December 2005.

The budget deficit for all of fiscal 2006 that ended last Sept. 30 was $248.2 billion.

The real thief in the night here is not the tax cuts but spending.  With rising income, the deficit will go away all by itself if spending is held in check.

Now consider - how many veto pens has President Bush used, and who is in charge of Congress?  Is this a good match with respect to keeping this going?