Remember the budget surplus?

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..."Another key recent White House addition was Jack Lew, another Clinton administration veteran who Mr. Obama tapped to run the Office of Management and Budget back in July.

"If there was a Hall of Fame for budget directors, then Jack Lew surely would have earned a place for his service in that role under President Clinton, when he helped balance the federal budget after years of deficits.

When Jack left that post at the end of the Clinton administration, he handed the next administration a record $236 billion budget surplus," said Mr. Obama.

"Jack is the only budget director in history to preside over a budget surplus for three consecutive years."

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-503544_162-20027825-503544.html
 
Mojo said:
"If there was a Hall of Fame for budget directors, then Jack Lew surely would have earned a place for his service in that role under President Clinton, when he helped balance the federal budget after years of deficits.
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what, for taking more money from taxpayers......that's an easy way to balance the budget.....
 
No, I do not remember what never happened. They can spin it on 12 axes at 12 billion rpm, and it does not change the fact that the only way they got the numbers crunched in the way they wanted was by including all revenues borrowed from the social security trust fund in the form of T-Bills.

Clue: when you borrow money - no matter the source - you are NOT operating on a "balanced" budget. Think about it. Would you consider your budget "balanced" if the only way to get your income to equal your outgo is by taking from your retirement account?

Clinton fans and republican fans alike are blowing smoke when claiming there was a balanced budget under his administration.
 
Good Luck said:
No, I do not remember what never happened. They can spin it on 12 axes at 12 billion rpm, and it does not change the fact that the only way they got the numbers crunched in the way they wanted was by including all revenues borrowed from the social security trust fund in the form of T-Bills.

Clue: when you borrow money - no matter the source - you are NOT operating on a "balanced" budget. Think about it. Would you consider your budget "balanced" if the only way to get your income to equal your outgo is by taking from your retirement account?

Clinton fans and republican fans alike are blowing smoke when claiming there was a balanced budget under his administration.
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I'd like to see the source of that assertion, please.
 
Mojo said:
I'd like to see the source of that assertion, please.
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It is MY assertion. I do not need someone else doing my thinking to see the obvious. The facts are available.

All you have to do is look at the national debt during those years. First of all, FCIA surplus revenues are automatically included in the general fund because of the requirement to purchase U.S. Treasury notes with any surplus FICA revenues. This seems to generate extra revenues which were then used to offset expenditures. But seems is the operative word, because at the same time those same T-bills result in debt.

Second, the national debt goes UP all years of Clinton's administration, including those years they claimed a balanced budget, thus proving that the budget was not balanced. The only way the debt goes up is if the government spends more than it takes in. You simply cannot spend more than you take in and claim a balanced budget! (Unless you are a politician - read liar.)

I will give them credit, though, that despite their sleight-of-hand using FICA surplus, they still came closer to balancing the budget than any administration/congress since WWII.
 
I remember how they crowed about a "surplus" but that it never materialized. We borrowed more money to pay the bills in each of those years, and totally just robbed the crap out of our future retirees making SSN finally and totally a ponzi scheme. I was hacked at Rs and Ds alike for that piece of propaganda... but I'm always more pissed at the people who believe it. We robbed hundreds of billions from Social Security, then still had to borrow money to make ends meet all while people crowed about "surpluses"...
 
Good Luck said:
It is MY assertion. I do not need someone else doing my thinking to see the obvious. The facts are available.

All you have to do is look at the national debt during those years. First of all, FCIA surplus revenues are automatically included in the general fund because of the requirement to purchase U.S. Treasury notes with any surplus FICA revenues. This seems to generate extra revenues which were then used to offset expenditures. But seems is the operative word, because at the same time those same T-bills result in debt.

Second, the national debt goes UP all years of Clinton's administration, including those years they claimed a balanced budget, thus proving that the budget was not balanced. The only way the debt goes up is if the government spends more than it takes in. You simply cannot spend more than you take in and claim a balanced budget! (Unless you are a politician - read liar.)

I will give them credit, though, that despite their sleight-of-hand using FICA surplus, they still came closer to balancing the budget than any administration/congress since WWII.
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Since the "facts are available", it shouldn't be difficult for you to post a link, should it?
 
Mojo said:
So was the economy better then, or is it better now?
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depends on whether you owned Enron stock....there are some who think the economy is good now......my business is down 60%, I'm not one who thinks it is.....so for me, the economy is much worse now....does that do anything to further your argument?.....no....
 
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Damocles said:
I remember how they crowed about a "surplus" but that it never materialized. We borrowed more money to pay the bills in each of those years, and totally just robbed the crap out of our future retirees making SSN finally and totally a ponzi scheme. I was hacked at Rs and Ds alike for that piece of propaganda... but I'm always more pissed at the people who believe it. We robbed hundreds of billions from Social Security, then still had to borrow money to make ends meet all while people crowed about "surpluses"...
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And then you supported George W Bush, who used the non-existent surpluses as the justification for his tax cuts and which has resulted in the enormous deficits that we have today. Give yourself a pat on the back!
 
..." President Bush said Saturday that the most important number in the budget he sends to Congress next week is the $5.6 trillion surplus it projects over the next 10 years.

That huge projected surplus provides the underpinning of all the administration's tax-cut and spending plans, Mr. Bush said in his recorded weekly radio address.

"A surplus in tax revenue, after all, means that taxpayers have been overcharged," the president said. "And usually when you've been overcharged, you expect to get something back." The surplus figure "counts more than any other" in the budget, he said..."

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2001/02/24/national/main274334.shtml
 
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