More and More Again: Record tax revenue in 2013

The Congressional Budget Office is presdicting that 2013 will see a record level of federal tax collections.

CNS News:

Federal revenue will return to its pre-recession levels in 2013, according to projections from the Congressional Budget Office (CBO), setting a record for the most money the government has ever taken in.

In its latest Budget and Economic Update, the CBO forecasts that federal revenue will top $2.7 trillion in 2013, slightly higher than the $2.6 trillion the government collected in 2007, when the last recession officially began.

Government revenues had fallen by nearly $500 billion during the recession to $2.1 trillion in 2009, contributing to the $1.5 trillion deficit that year. However, federal revenues have been recovering since the recession ended in June 2009, and the CBO now projects that they will slightly eclipse their pre-recession peak.

In fact, the $2.7 trillion in revenue will be the most money the federal government has collected in history.

According to historical tables compiled by the White House Office of Management and Budget, the government has never collected more than the $2.6 trillion it collected in 2007, meaning that if CBO's projection is correct, it will set a new record for revenue collection in 2013.

No more using the recession as an excuse for monster deficits. Even if the government hits the CBO target deficit of $845 billion - a dubious prospect given the slowing economy - anyone with half a brain can see that despite record levels of tax collection, we're still spending far too much money.

Democrats who claim we need more revenue and don't need to cut anything except military spending from the budget must now explain how they can come close to balancing the budget without raising taxes on the middle class. You're not going to get $845 billion from the rich and cutting defense alone. The only people left to tax are those who aren't paying any tax now, or are paying very little.

Amazing how far out of whack things have gotten that we can take in a record amount of revenue and still be nearly a trillion dollars short.