Here is the state of the Government's Receipts and Expenses per the CBO..




http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887323894704578113033115035920.html?mod=WSJ_Opinion_LEADTop

"While the rest of America was holding an election last week, the gnomes at the Congressional Budget Office released the final budget totals for fiscal 2012. They're worth reporting because they illuminate the real fiscal choices that confront the country, as opposed to the posturing you'll be hearing over the next few weeks.

The nearby table lays out the ugly details. The feds rolled up another $1.1 trillion deficit for the year that ended September 30, which was the biggest deficit since World War II, except for each of the previous three years. President Obama can now proudly claim the four largest deficits in modern history. As a share of GDP, the deficit fell to 7% last year, which was still above any single year of the Reagan Presidency, or any other year since Truman worked in the Oval Office.

...

When Beltway politicians claim they want a "balanced" approach to reducing the deficit, what they really mean is raising taxes to finance this new higher spending level. And the still-higher level that is coming with ObamaCare.

The reality is that the fastest way to raise revenue is with faster economic growth. To the extent that raising tax rates will reduce the rate of growth, it will slow the flow of tax revenue and increase the deficit.

Even if Mr. Obama were to bludgeon Republicans into giving him all of the tax-rate increases he wants, the Joint Tax Committee estimates this would yield only $82 billion a year in extra revenue. But if growth is slower as a result of the higher tax rates, then the revenue will be lower too. So after Mr. Obama has humiliated House Republicans and punished the affluent for the sheer joy of it, he would still have a deficit of $1 trillion."

Note that the RECORD for RECEIPTS is STILL President Bush's FY 2007 of $2,568.. The Recession chopped about $400 Billion off that income stream.. now 5 years later.. we have clawed back to within almost $120 Billion..

Remember that Nancy Pelosi took control of the Speakership after the 06 elections.. and between her and the Recession as well as President Obama's "Stimulus" that has now become permant spending.. Expenditures jumped about $800 Billion.. Thus the deficit opened a $1.2 Trillion hole.

IF President Obama is able to get his tax hikes through the Congress.. it is estimated that will add about $80 Billion.. (big Whoop.) ASSUMING that the economy does not slow.. ("uh-huh")  So the only thing that is keeping us going is Bernanke over there at the Fed.. making up the difference by cranking out $40 Billion PER MONTH from the printing press..

http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/09/13/us-usa-fed-easing-idUSBRE88C1CT20120913

THAT is why land is bringing record values.. because we have effectively debased our currency.

I read an article this weekend that talked about how bad Europe was.. etc... and how we "fortunately" didn't choose that road.. my conclusion is that Europe has at least started down the path of reconciling it's budget gap.. while we have yet to leave the gate..

We've been running on a treadmill for the past four years.. the heavy lifting is still ahead of us.