Yaaay! The U.S. government made a few bucks in April

In a manner of speaking. For the first time since September 2008, more money came in than went out. The surplus was $59.117 billion, with the $318.8 billion in taxes and other revenue offsetting $259.7 billion in federal spending. April tends to be a good month for the government, what with tax payments and all. From Real Time Economics:

The practical implication of the April surplus is that the government might have bought itself some extra time until it hits the $16.394 trillion debt ceiling. On Tuesday, the federal government had $15.643 billion in debt subject to the borrowing limit, which can only be raised by Congress. With $751 billion in headroom under the cap, and the government has averaged a $96.4 billion deficit over the past 12 months. If such a pace can be maintained, it means the U.S. might not hit the debt ceiling until early 2013.