The new fiscal year got off to a rocky start in October, as the Treasury Department reported Tuesday that Uncle Sam ran a budget deficit of $100 billion last month, up 60 percent from a year earlier, and the largest deficit in October since 2015.
Compared to the same month a year ago, spending was up by over $50 billion, while revenues increased by $17 billion, again demonstrating stronger economic growth - but that growth has not brought the federal deficit under control as promised repeatedly by GOP leaders in Congress and the White House.
The feds brought in $252.7 billion in revenues, compared to a spending level of $353.2 billion in October - giving taxpayers $100.5 billion more in red ink, in the very first month of Fiscal Year 2019.
The budget estimates from the White House already envision a deficit in 2019 which could go over $1 trillion, though the deficit for 2018 settled at less than original estimates, totaling $779 billion.
That yearly deficit was the largest since 2012.
"October revenues are up 7% compared to last year, but over half of that increase is due to tariffs & excise taxes," wrote budget expert Tyler Evilsizer, who points out that collections of individual income tax revenue increased less than one percent in October.
While Republicans in Congress had routinely pledged to enact a balanced budget, those promises haven't come close to being fulfilled under the Trump Administration.
Here are the White House estimates for the budget deficit in coming years:
2019 - $984 billion
2020 - $987 billion
2021 - $916 billion
2022 - $852 billion
2023 - $774 billion
The ten year outlook from the White House does not envision a balanced budget.
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