The FY04 Federal Budget Numbers Are In

The financial health of the country is much better off than the mainstream media and the Democrats (not that there is any difference between the two) would have us believe.

Larry Kudlow writes in today's NRO that the picture is getting brighter, and tax cuts are the reason. Here is an excerpt:

And the Budget Says . . .
. . . the supply-siders were right all along.

Is there more sanity in the federal budget than people think?

The latest budget numbers closing out fiscal year 2004 show slower spending growth, stronger tax receipts, and a $413 billion deficit that came in about $100 billion less than the Office of Management and Budget predicted at the start of the year and $64 billion lower than the Congressional Budget Office estimate.

Overall, according the Treasury Department, tax receipts increased 5.5 percent in fiscal year 2004 compared to a 3.8 percent decline in fiscal year 2003. Income-tax withholdings gained 2.5 percent versus a loss of 2.2 percent in the prior year. Corporate tax collections exploded 43.7 percent on the shoulders of near-record corporate profits.

What’s going on? It’s clear: At lower marginal tax rates, the rising economy is throwing off a lot more tax revenues. Score one for the supply-siders.

Here is the article.