Higher-than-expected tax revenues in the United States are expected to make a dent in the federal deficit, according to early reports.

A dent? Gee, that'll help a LOT.

Higher-than-expected when and by whom?

This from Crichton is precious...

What I discovered stunned me. Chernobyl was a tragic event, but nothing remotely close to the global catastrophe I imagined. About 50 people had died in Chernobyl, roughly the number of Americans that die every day in traffic accidents. I don�t mean to be gruesome, but it was a setback for me. You can�t write a novel about a global disaster in which only 50 people die.

As Crichton himself admits, the World Health Organization, which gives the lowest estimates of increases in cancer among exposed people is predicting about 4,000 additional deaths due to cancer as a result of the disaster. That's about a thousand more than were killed in the attacks on 9/11, and we all know how much of a fuss the United States has made because of those deaths, and how many thousands of Iraqi civilian deaths the US was willing to cause in the name of "keeping the homeland secure". Funny how Crichton and some others value some lives so much more than other lives.