I've never said they were lying. And as stated, I was "wonderind" or "thinking out loud" as you put it. Should have checked the facts, you're right, I stand corrected.
But still, there are reasons to think 2013's finances are different. They said they've overspent based on projection on previous years income. Maybe it still growing but not as much as expected. We'll see in the 2013's report.
http://www.gnome.org/foundation/reports/
Their 2012 annual report in particular says:
"Corporate sponsorship ... up 41.6% from the previous year."
"Personal donations rose by 45.4% ... this appears to be the highest amount of personal donations that the GNOME Foundation has ever received."
If you've got some real reason to believe 2013's finances are different, and believe the foundation is lying about their reasons for the shortfall, then do let us know.