Annual Deficit Cut By Nearly Three-Fourths During Obama Administration

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No one's talking about this much, with all the conservative hand wringing about deficits and national debt, but the fact is the U.S. budget deficit has fallen to an 8 year low.

That's a good thing, kids.

The deficit is the annual number showing the difference between how much the federal government spends and how much it takes in via taxes and fees.

Via Yahoo News:

The US government's budget deficit fell to an eight-year low in fiscal 2015, dropping to $439 billion, the Treasury Department announced Thursday.

The cut in the finance gap -- which was $1.4 trillion in 2009 -- brought the deficit down to 2.5 percent of gross domestic product, the lowest level since 2007.

The achievement marked a long effort by the administration of President Barack Obama to pare back the budget shortfall after it soared when the economy plunged into crisis in 2008.

"President Obama's agenda continues to put Federal finances on a sustainable footing while laying the foundation for durable economic growth and broadly shared prosperity," Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew said in a statement.

"Under the president's leadership, the deficit has been cut by roughly three-quarters as a share of the economy since 2009 –- the fastest sustained deficit reduction since just after World War II."