Actually it was Gingrichistas who claimed a 4 year surplus and the Bushistas use the same exact balancing act when they claim there was only a $168 billion Bush deficit before the Dems took over in 2007.That WAS however, how Clinton and Gingrich "balanced" their budget. By counting the SSec MASSIVE surpluses for those years as THEIR income. Not trust fund investment.
A fact that has been pointed out to Clintonistas ad nauseum and yet they just pretend they don't know about this and continue to gloat about their glory years when Clinton left Bush a surplus to be squandered away.
But you knew that already!
That's why you only hear crickets chirping when it comes to REALIZING WHY the annual Debt is exploding. Because BOTH SIDES are in on the criminal neglect to manage and the criminal THEFT of the SSec surpluses.
Even Obama didn't DEFEND the parts of HIS growing deficits that were LARGELY due to the "Baby Boomer" crisis. Neither has Trump. Government basic spending has not increased that much. It's the "second financing" of the ENTITLEMENTS that are making Obama and Trump look bad on growing debt.
Crickets...