Even with record federal revenue, the government has a running deficit of $385 billion though the first nine months of fiscal 2014.
According to CNSNews, “The White House Office of Management and Budget has estimated that in the full fiscal 2014, the federal government will collect $3.001721 trillion in taxes and spend $3.650526 trillion, while running a deficit of $648.805 billion.
The OMB has also estimated that, while running that deficit, the federal government will collect a record amount in inflation-adjusted tax revenues.”
All this confirms is that the government is not short on money (record tax revenue receipts) but is short on cutting spending.
As I noted last fall how irregular circumstances contributed to reducing the deficit last year, it is likely that there will be a similar explanation for the tiny surplus as well.