I have an idea. You're in charge so why don't you guys do that?
Because they're a bunch of <insert favorite insult here> who are scared a democrat somewhere will say boo and the NYT will say something bad about them. Plus, we'd rather peg spending to inflation and let the economy grow so it would be easier to pay down the debt with the generated surplus than raise taxes and hurt the economy more. It would be amusing, though, to see the democrats' reactions as they watched money go by that they couldn't use to buy off constituent groups. No, this is about what you can do the next time you find yourself in charge. I will, though, confidently assert that you'll have no inclination to pay down the debt but will increase spending instead.
We will cut some of your programs and spend more on things we prioritize no doubt.
Also, it was impossible to pay off the debt AND get us out of Bush's recession. But how did the last Democrat do?
Steny Hoyer says George W. Bush inherited $5.6 trillion surplus from Bill Clinton
Axelrod claims Bush saddled Obama with a big deficit
Bush: Surplus Justifies Tax Cut
Economically, the best we had was a democrat president willing to work with a Republican Congress willing to hold his feet to the fire. We don't have that now, and haven't for some time.
The Bubba/Republican Congress combination came the closest to balancing the budget.
8 years ago
CNN Fact Check: The last president to balance the budget
Posted by
CNN's Jim Dexter
(CNN) - President Obama declared on Wednesday that Democrats can be trusted on the budget because, "the last time the budget was balanced was under a Democratic president."
Fact Check: Who was president the last time the budget was balanced?
- The U.S. government suffered budget deficits every year from 1970 through 1997.
- Democrat Bill Clinton was president in 1998, when the government finally recorded a surplus.
- There also were budget surpluses in 1999, 2000 and in 2001. 2001 was the last year the Clinton administration proposed the budget.
- Republican George W. Bush succeeded Clinton in 2001. The United States had a budget deficit in 2002, and it has recorded budget deficits every year since. The deficit is projected to increase substantially this year under President Barack Obama.
- Republicans say they should get at least some of the credit for the balanced budgets during the Clinton administration, because Republican majorities controlled both the House and Senate.
Read the bottom line after the jump.
Bottom Line: Democrat Bill Clinton was president the last time the federal budget was balanced, and Republicans controlled Congress.
CNN Fact Check: The last president to balance the budget
Are they wrong?