WASHINGTON – The U.S. is starting the 2021 budget year the way the old year ended, with soaring deficits.The Treasury Department reported Thursday that the federal government ran up a record October deficit of $284.1 billion, nearly double the red ink of the same month a year ago, as revenues declined while spending to deal with the impact of the coronavirus soared.The October deficit was almost double the $134.5 billion deficit logged in October 2019.
It smashed the previous October record of a $176 billion deficit set in 2009, when the government was spending heavily to lift the country out of a deep recession caused by the 2008 financial crisis.The deficit for the 2020 budget year, which ended Sept.