The papers are now plastered with applause for George Bush's debt management. Apparently, somehow the US has collected more money in taxes so far this year than expected. It could be that people unable to find jobs are cashing out stocks and taking the capital gains hit. Who knows? It could just be money collected this quarter that will not show up in the future.
Apparently the appearance of an unpredicted increase in revenue means fiscal responsibility on the part of the Whitehouse.
Anyway, I thought I would add a link to the Treasury's debt page. Even if the unexpected increase in tax revenues helped cut the record deficits in half, the US is spending far more than is healthy. The debt jumped from $5.6 trillion (when Bush took office) to $7.8 trillion today. The unexpected increase revenue might save the Bush administration from crossing the $8 trillion mark this fiscal year...but we will cross it early next fiscal year.
BTW, Clinton's famed decrease in the increase of the budget and his famed budget surplus happened for the same unexpected increase in revenue. Clinton's suplus occurred because the stock market hit the stratosphere.
The Whitehouse simply has to stop this game of taking credit for leaps and dips in the stock market. Everytime there is an increase in the stock market, there will be an increase in tax revenue. It really has nothing to do with the skill of the president.
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