DAN RIEHL: Why is “Tea Party” sentiment exploding? Because the deficit is exploding, too.

The US budget deficit accelerated in March to hit a record nearly one trillion dollars just halfway through the current fiscal year, as the government moved to bail out troubled institutions, government data has shown.

The deficit for the first six months of the fiscal year which began on October 1 was 956.80 billion dollars, according to the Treasury’s monthly statement of receipts and outlays.

Receipts during the six-month period to March 2009 were 989.83 billion dollars while outlays amounted to nearly 1.95 trillion dollars, the data showed.

The March deficit of 192.27 billion dollars was higher than the 160 billion dollars expected by most analysts, coming on the back of money poured by President Barack Obama’s administration to rescue financial institutions. . . . The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO) forecast last month the budget deficit could hit 1.845 trillion dollars for the whole year based on Obama’s 3.5-trillion-dollar budget plan approved by Congress early this month.

The CBO said its budget deficit estimate for fiscal 2009, which ends on September 30, would be four times the 2008 record shortfall and amount to 13.1 percent of the country’s total economic output.

You can talk about Bush’s profligate spending all you want — but, as noted earlier, this is a whole different magnitude. And to make that clear, here’s the graphic again:

UPDATE: Hundreds gather for “Tax Day Tea Party” in Goshen: “Tax Day is less than a week away, and thousands of people across the country and right here at home are marking the deadline by protesting what they call wasteful spending in Washington. On Saturday, hundreds gathered in Goshen for a ‘Tax Day Tea Party.'”

Plus, Taxpayers Hold “Boston Tea Party” Revolt in Marysville: “A revolution is brewing in Marysville. Hundreds of taxpayers held their own ‘Boston Tea Party’ at Washington Park. . . . ‘This event is for everyone because taxes are affecting everyone, not just republicans, democrats, independents,’ said Terry Rutherford. Local politicians were on hand for the revolt.”

It’s happening all over. Much more here.