The federal deficit has increased by over 23 percent compared to this point in time last year according to the Treasury Department, and while I'm sure that won't shock anyone, there's something else about these numbers that catches my attention.
The deficit increased to $747.1 billion during the first nine months of the fiscal year which began on October 1st of 2018, but things could actually be even worse if not for Trump's tariffs.
The Treasury also reported that the Trump regime has collect $52 billion in tariffs over the same time period.
The deficit widened to $747.1 billion, versus $607 billion last year, from October through June. Federal spending rose to $3.36 trillion in that period, while revenue increased to $2.61 trillion -- both records. [...]
The Trump administration is predicting that the budget deficit will likely exceed $1 trillion for the entire fiscal year, which ends on Sept. 30. That's up from $779 billion a year earlier. That's much higher than forecasts by the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office, which anticipates that the deficit for the year will reach $896 billion.
Part of the jump in receipts for the period came from a 78% rise in custom duties, which totaled $52 billion so far for the budget year.
So, if not for Trump's tax on consumers, the deficit would be almost $800 billion at this point in time.
The White House estimates that we'll blow past the CBO's estimates for the year even though they're collecting tens of billions in tariffs that the CBO didn't account for.
It seems reasonable to infer that if Trump were to impose tariffs on an additional $300 billion in Chinese goods, custom duties would easily surpass $100 billion per year and I now wonder to what extent the White House or at least Trump himself has weighted the fiscal benefits of his tax on consumers.
Trump does like to say that we're collecting billions in tariffs, but he misidentifies who is paying for it.