It is immoral and un-American to borrow money, reap the benefits and give the bill to our children. If we do not want budget deficits then we should have the guts to make the spending cuts necessary or raise taxes sufficiently to eliminate them.

Continual Deficits no matter how small are very bad.

For years politicians have measured deficit spending as a percent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP). GDP is the sum total of all goods and services produced in the United States. Is there a long-term problem with running even very tiny deficits year after year? In other words is there such thing as a manageable deficit?

Budget of the United States Government 1789 to present

Section 1—Overview of Federal Government Finances

Table 1.1—Summary of Receipts, Outlays, and Surpluses or Deficits (-): 1789–2009

Table 1.2—Summary of Receipts, Outlays, and Surpluses or Deficits (-) as Percentages of GDP: 1930–2009

Table 1.3—Summary of Receipts, Outlays, and Surpluses or Deficits (-) in Current Dollars, Constant (FY 2000) Dollars, and as Percentages of GDP: 1940–2009

Table 1.4—Receipts, Outlays, and Surpluses or Deficits (-) by Fund Group: 1934–2009

Section 2—Composition of Federal Government Receipts

Table 2.1—Receipts by Source: 1934–2009

Table 2.2—Percentage Composition of Receipts by Source: 1934–2009

Table 2.3—Receipts by Source as Percentages of GDP: 1934–2009

Table 2.4—Composition of Social Insurance Taxes and Contributions and of Excise Taxes: 1940–2009

Table 2.5—Composition of "Other Receipts": 1940–2009

Section 3—Federal Government Outlays by Function

Table 3.1—Outlays by Superfunction and Function: 1940–2009

Table 3.2—Outlays by Function and Subfunction: 1962–2009

Section 4—Federal Government Outlays by Agency

Table 4.1—Outlays by Agency: 1962–2009

Table 4.2—Percentage Distribution of Outlays by Agency: 1962–2009

Section 5—Budget Authority (On-and Off-Budget)

Table 5.1—Budget Authority by Function and Subfunction: 1976–2009

Table 5.2—Budget Authority by Agency: 1976–2009

Table 5.3—Percentage Distribution of Budget Authority by Agency: 1976–2009

Table 5.4—Discretionary Budget Authority by Agency: 1976–2005

Table 5.5—Percentage Distribution of Discretionary Budget Authority by Agency: 1976–2005

Section 6—Composition of Federal Government Outlays

Table 6.1—Composition of Outlays: 1940–2009

Section 7—Federal Debt

Table 7.1—Federal Debt at the End of Year: 1940–2009

Table 7.2—Debt Subject to Statutory Limit: 1940–2009

Table 7.3—Statutory Limits on Federal Debt: 1940–Current

Section 8—Outlays by Budget Enforcement Act Category

Table 8.1—Outlays by Budget Enforcement Act Category: 1962–2009

Table 8.2—Outlays by Budget Enforcement Act Category in Constant (FY 2000) Dollars: 1962–2009

Table 8.3—Percentage Distribution of Outlays by Budget Enforcement Act Category: 1962–2009

Table 8.4—Outlays by Budget Enforcement Act Category as Percentages of GDP: 1962–2009

Table 8.5—Outlays for Mandatory and Related Programs: 1962–2009

Table 8.6—Outlays for Mandatory and Related Programs in Constant (FY 2000) Dollars: 1962–2009

Table 8.7—Outlays for Discretionary Programs: 1962–2009

Table 8.8—Outlays for Discretionary Programs in Constant (FY 2000) Dollars: 1962–2009

Table 8.9—Budget Authority for Discretionary Programs: 1976–2005

Section 9—Federal Government Outlays for Major Public Physical Capital, Research and Development, and Education and Training

Table 9.1—Total Investment Outlays for Major Public Physical Capital, Research and Development, and Education and Training: 1962–2005

Table 9.2—Major Public Physical Capital Investment Outlays in Current and Constant (FY 2000) Dollars: 1940–2005

Table 9.3—Major Public Physical Capital Investment Outlays in Percentage Terms: 1940–2005

Table 9.4—National Defense Outlays for Major Public Direct Physical Capital Investment: 1940–2005

Table 9.5—Nondefense Outlays for Major Public Direct Physical Capital Investment: 1940–2005

Table 9.6—Composition of Outlays for Grants for Major Public Physical Capital Investment: 1941–2005

Table 9.7—Summary of Outlays for the Conduct of Research and Development: 1949–2005 (In Current Dollars, as Percentages of Total Outlays, as Percentages of GDP, and in Constant (FY 2000) Dollars)

Table 9.8—Composition of Outlays for the Conduct of Research and Development: 1949–2005

Table 9.9—Composition of Outlays for the Conduct of Education and Training: 1962–2005

Section 10—Gross Domestic Product and Implicit Outlay Deflators

Table 10.1—Gross Domestic Product and Deflators Used in the Historical Tables: 1940–2009

Section 11—Federal Government Payments for Individuals

Table 11.1—Summary Comparison of Outlays for Payments for Individuals: 1940–2009 (In Current Dollars, as Percentages of Total Outlays, as Percentages of GDP, and in Constant (FY 2000) Dollars)

Table 11.2—Functional Composition of Outlays for Payments for Individuals: 1940–2009

Table 11.3—Outlays for Payments for Individuals by Category and Major Program: 1940–2009

Section 12—Federal Grants To State and Local Governments

Table 12.1—Summary Comparison of Total Outlays for Grants to State and Local Governments: 1940–2009 (in Current Dollars, as Percentages of Total Outlays, as Percentages of GDP, and in Constant (FY 2000) Dollars)

Table 12.2—Total Outlays for Grants to State and Local Governments, by Function and Fund Group: 1940–2009

Table 12.3—Total Outlays for Grants to State and Local Governments, by Function, Agency, and Program: 1940–2005

Section 13—Social Security and Medicare

Table 13.1—Cash Income, Outgo, and Balances of the Social Security and Medicare Trust Funds: 1936–2009

Section 14—Federal Sector Transactions in the National Income and Product Accounts

Table 14.1—Federal Transactions in the National Income and Product Accounts for Federal Fiscal Years: 2003–2005

Table 14.2—Federal Transactions in the National Income and Product Accounts as Percentages of GDP for Federal Fiscal Years: 2003–2005

Section 15—Total (Federal and State and Local) Government Finances

Table 15.1—Total Government Receipts in Absolute Amounts and as Percentages of GDP: 1947–2003

Table 15.2—Total Government Expenditures: 1947–2003

Table 15.3—Total Government Expenditures as Percentages of GDP: 1947–2003

Table 15.4—Total Government Expenditures by Major Category of Expenditure: 1947–2003

Table 15.5—Total Government Expenditures by Major Category of Expenditure as Percentages of GDP: 1947–2003

Table 15.6—Total Government Surpluses or Deficits (-) in Absolute Amounts and as Percentages of GDP: 1947–2003

Section 16—Federal Health Spending

Table 16.1—Total Outlays for Health Programs: 1962–2009

Section 17—Government Employment

Table 17.1—Total Executive Branch Civilian Employees, 1940–2003

Table 17.2—Total Executive Branch Civilian Employees, 1940–2003 (as percentage of total)

Table 17.3—Total Executive Branch Civilian Full-Time Equivalent (FTE) Employees, 1981–2005

Table 17.4—Total Executive Branch Civilian Full-Time Equivalent (FTE) Employees, 1981–2005 (as percentage of total)

Table 17.5—Government Employment and Population, 1962–2003

Table 1.--Individual Income Tax, All Returns: Sources of Income and Adjustments, by Size of Adjusted Gross Income, Tax Year 2002

IRS data on individual income by source.  See how many returns are filed and how much income is reported by source and who pays what in terms of taxes.

Individual Income Tax Returns: Selected Income and Tax Items for Specified Tax Years, 1985-2002.

Good file containing information on taxes paid by income catagory.

Number of Individual Income Tax Returns, by Type of Tax Settlement, Tax Years 1950-2002.

Number of Individual Income Tax Returns, Income, Exemptions and Deductions, Tax, and Average Tax, by Size of Adjusted Gross Income, Tax Years 2000-2002.

Personal Exemptions and Individual Income Tax Rates, 1913-2002.

Standard, Itemized, and Total Deductions Reported on Individual Income Tax Returns, Tax Years 1950-2002.

The National Debt

The National Debt Clock