Need help finding info on annual Federal deficits...

[tekriter]

Here at work I'm surrounded by freepers and near-freepers, and today the subject of the federal deficit came up. I brought up that Bushie's new budget would most likely set a record for a deficit ($500 billion or more) and that didn't even count the cost of the War on Terra.

Of course, I was immediately hit with the "KLINTON WAS WORSE!!!" comments. So, I pointed out that surely they remember that we actually had a surplus for a while, and that before the surplus the annual deficit was shrinking. They do not seem to remember this fact.

I would like to pull data from an unimpeachable source like OMB or Congress that gives the annual deficit for each of the last ten or twenty years or so. Nothing would make me happier today than getting my co-workers (or is it "cow-orkers") to shut up.

I could spend the afternoon digging for it but I'm willing to bet someone here has a good place for me to start.

Thanks in advance!

[Another Bill C.]

1. You might have to

do some digging here:
http://www.publicdebt.treas.gov/bpd/bpdhome.htm

or here:
http://www.ombwatch.org/article/articleview/2028/1/18/

[BlueEyedSon]

2. I saw a table lately, but here is a chart

http://142.206.72.67/04/04a/04a_graph/04a_graph_008_1e.htm



More: http://www.littlepiggy.net/deficit/index.php

[papau]

4. Only 12/31/99 to 12/31/00 was really a surplus (decrease in National Debt)

the others used the Social Security payroll surplus to exchange public held debt for Trust fund held debt (which debt is really just a promise to raise FIT rates later when real dollars are needed for the Soc Security Retirement system monthly check payouts).

In the Chart above we have "surplus" under Bush, but the National Debt still increases.

Clinton is the only one to have a surplus that actually reduced the national debt - and that was only for one calendar year - for the calendar year 2000.

[papau]

3. Best Source is bea.doc.gov spreadsheets with monthly data

and Treasury spreadsheets.

good luck.

:-)