Balanced Budget? That was called “Contract With America”, and was the result of a GOP controlled Congress writing the budget.
That is, simply not true ken. But you already know that.
Since Clinton first took office, the deficit has steadily come down, due in part to anti-deficit measures pushed through by the Democrats in 1993 and last year's bipartisan budget deal but mostly because of six years of relentless economic growth. The combination of an expanding economy, low unemployment and declining demand for Medicaid, welfare and other entitlement programs produced a flush of revenue. The 1997 Balanced Budget Agreement--the first nominally balanced budget in 30 years--received insufficient attention. It was, in a way, the ultimate demonstration of the New Clintonism. The real victory wasn't in the "zero" at the bottom line, but in the dozens of line-item skirmishes won.Washington Post Staff Writers Tuesday, January 6, 1998
Since Clinton first took office, the deficit has steadily come down, due in part to anti-deficit measures pushed through by the Democrats in 1993 and last year's bipartisan budget deal but mostly because of six years of relentless economic growth. The combination of an expanding economy, low unemployment and declining demand for Medicaid, welfare and other entitlement programs produced a flush of revenue. The 1997 Balanced Budget Agreement--the first nominally balanced budget in 30 years--received insufficient attention. It was, in a way, the ultimate demonstration of the New Clintonism. The real victory wasn't in the "zero" at the bottom line, but in the dozens of line-item skirmishes won.
Washington Post Staff Writers Tuesday, January 6, 1998
The Clinton years showed the effects of a large tax increase that Clinton pushed through in his first year, and that Republicans incorrectly claim is the "largest tax increase in history." It fell almost exclusively on upper-income taxpayers. Clinton's fiscal 1994 budget also contained some spending restraints. An equally if not more powerful influence was the booming economy and huge gains in the stock markets, the so-called dot-com bubble, which brought in hundreds of millions in unanticipated tax revenue from taxes on capital gains and rising salaries. Clinton's large budget surpluses also owe much to the Social Security tax on payrolls. Social Security taxes now bring in more than the cost of current benefits, and the "Social Security surplus" makes the total deficit or surplus figures look better than they would if Social Security wasn't counted. But even if we remove Social Security from the equation, there was a surplus of $1.9 billion in fiscal 1999 and $86.4 billion in fiscal 2000. So any way you count it, the federal budget was balanced and the deficit was erased, if only for a while. FactCheck.org
"No, you are a paid blogger assigned to counter anyone that posts something negative about the government or Obama." by Mcamelyne II on 05/17/2011
