Budget Numbers Show It's a Weird Time to Raise Taxes.(Brief article) From: U.S. News & World Report | Date: October 12, 2007| Author: Pethokoukis, James | COPYRIGHT 2007 All rights reserved. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan.  All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group.Copyright information

Byline: James Pethokoukis

So the fiscal 2007 federal budget deficit, according to new numbers from the Office of Management and Budget, is $163 billion. Not a particularly big number for a $13 trillion economy. In fact, it works out to a scant 1.2 percent of gross domestic product. More interesting, the latest budget numbers reveal that tax receipts rose from 18.5 percent of GDP in fiscal 2006 to 18.8 percent of GDP in fiscal 2007. That level of receipts is above the 40-...