The Federal Budget Deficit Has Disappeared! (Not Really.)

Seeing deficit doves, government lovers, and goofballs of all persuasions hyping this new Forbes column, apparently based largely on its eye-catching headline "The Federal Budget Deficit Has Disappeared. Really."

Reason for that claim? The projection of a monthly surplus for October.

But on a year-by-year measure, the way we usually think about deficits? This article boldly declaring the non-existence of the federal deficit sort of coughs in the middle that the likely "deficit for all of 2014 will be about $500 billion."

That's a mere non-existent, disappeared half a trillion dollars, a larger deficit than in all but a handful of years of this nation's history, as you'll learn if you look at Office of Management and Budget Historical Tables. 

And their projections for the next five years will have the federal government deficit-spending its way to a pretty solid extra $2.5 trillion in more debt.