- Year ago May deficit was $66 billion
- April surplus was $176 billion
- Year to data deficit at $1.165 trillion vs $246 billion a year earlier
- Outlays $548 B
- Receipts $307 B
I always find the gap between outlays and receipts to be the most ominous. You need to raise receipts (i.e. taxes) by a big amount to cover that gap, or cut a lot of spending on outlays.
This year's gap is currently overstated because of how receipts were moved around last year but the trajectory certainly isn't. Moreover, a big part of the jump in outlays was via Medicare and with US population aging, that's going to mushroom from here.
