U.S. On Track For Smallest Deficit In 5 Years

A combination of higher taxes and an improving economy is leading to better news for deficit hawks.

The budget deficit for the first eight months of the fiscal year, which started Oct. 1, totaled $626.33 billion, down about 26% from the same period a year earlier, the Treasury Department said Wednesday in its monthly report.

Under current policies, the deficit is expected to fall to $642 billion for the full fiscal year and get as low as $378 billion in 2015, according to Congressional Budget Office projections. The last time the deficit was under $1 trillion was 2008, when spending outpaced revenue by $458.55 billion.

The improving fiscal outlook is one reason that Standard & Poor’s raised its U.S. credit rating outlook to “stable” from “negative” on Monday.

By: Cheston Catalano

Cheston Catalano is a Kentucky-based journalist whose work has been featured in the Chattanooga Times Free Press and the Clarksville Leaf Chronicle. He is a long-time contributor to Liberaland.