Who was right or did both groups have it wrong?
There has been a war of words between the Fiscal Conservatives and Moderates on one side and the Fiscal Progressives on the other about what happened from FY2008 and FY 2009 from a federal government budget perspective and what caused the hugh increase in the deficit from $459 billion to over $1.413 trillion. The Fiscal Progressives indicated it was caused by a sharp falloff in receipts. The Fiscal Conservatives and Moderates maintain it was because of a large runup in expenditures. Both sides are partially correct but don’t have the complete answer. If you look at the Summary page of the Overview Section of this website, it is clear the large increase in the deficit of the federal government came from both a sharp falloff in receipts (to the tune of $419 billion or 44% of the deficit increase) and a large runup in expenditures (to the tune of $535 billion or 56% of the defecit increase). Information does help to separate fact from fiction in the heated debates that are occurring.
However, if you look at the change from FY 2008 to FY 2012, Fiscal Conservatives and Moderates are substantially correct. The deficit increased from $459 billion to $1.327 trillion or $868 billion. 94% of the increase or $813 billion of the increase was from a rise in expenditures. Only 6% or $55 billion came from a decrease in receipts. This information is contained on the Smmary Page of the Overview Section of this website. Again it is helpful to have data.
