It’s wasteful spending like this that not only forces tax increases and cuts in vital services – but also really makes you wonder who is this government looking out for?

Feds Set Another Record for Revenue — Still Run a Deficit

The Insider Report disclosed in May that federal tax revenues hit an all-time record of $1.891 trillion in the first seven months of the fiscal year.

Now the Treasury Department reports that revenue has also set a record for the first 10 months of this fiscal year — but the federal government still managed to run a deficit.

Each month the Treasury Department publishes the government’s “total receipts,” including revenue from individual income taxes, corporate income taxes, social insurance, and retirement taxes including Social Security and Medicare taxes, unemployment insurance taxes, excise taxes, estate and gift taxes, customs duties, and “miscellaneous receipts.”

From Oct. 1, 2014, through the end of July, the federal government took in $2.672 trillion. That is an increase, in constant 2015 dollars, of about $183.3 billion from the revenue Treasury raked in during the first 10 months of fiscal 2014.

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, seasonally adjusted employment in the U.S., including both full-time and part-time workers, was 148,840,000. That means federal tax revenues collected so far in this fiscal year equal $17,955 for every person in the country with a job.

In 2012, President Obama and Congress enacted legislation that increased taxes — raising the top tax rate from 35 percent to 39.6 percent, boosting the top tax rate on dividends and capital gains and phasing out personal exemptions and deductions for high earners.

Nevertheless, the federal government’s tax collections in the 10 months fell short of its spending. The government spent $3.137 trillion during those months, thereby running up a deficit of $465.53 billion in that period.

The largest share of revenue came from individual income taxes, $1.27 trillion, followed by “Social Insurance and Retirement Receipts,” $845 billion.

The largest outlay was for the Department of Health and Human Services, $874.7 billion, including $308.4 billion for the Federal Supplementary Medical Insurance Trust Fund (Medicare) and $295 billion in grants to states for Medicaid.

Other large outlays included $789.7 billion for the Social Security Administration and $471.9 billion for the Department of Defense.

Interest on Treasury Debt Securities amounted to $350.6 billion over the 10 months, and it is projected to cost $431.5 billion for the full fiscal year. That is greater than the total costs of the Departments of Agriculture, Commerce, Education, Energy, Homeland Security, Interior, and Labor, plus the Environmental Protection Agency — combined.

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