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"We have now cut up Washington's credit card.
Take a look at the chart below. It shows the annual increase in "the public (Treasury) debt over the last quarter of this century. In 1997, Mr Clinton claimed that the budget deficit was $US 23 Billion. His Administration then trumpeted a budget surplus in 1998 and an even bigger one in 1999. Now, take a look at the chart. |
(Source of figures) Here are the figures for the last three fiscal years - straight from the Treasury: |
| Fiscal 1997: |
October 1, 1996
September 30, 1997 |
$5,224,811,939,135
$5,413,146,011,397 |
($188,235,072,262) |
| Mr Clinton claimed a 23 Billion deficit. | |||
| Fiscal 1998: |
October 1, 1997
September 30, 1998 |
$5,413,146,011,397
$5,526,193,008,897 |
($113,046,997,500) |
| Mr Clinton claimed a 65 Billion surplus. | |||
| Fiscal 1999: |
October 1, 1998
September 30, 1999 |
$5,526,193,008,897
$5,656,270,901,615 |
($130,077,892,718) |
| Mr Clinton claims that the 1999 surplus is well over $100 Billion. | |||
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The Administration is projecting today's economic climate, with its rampant stock market bull and still very low interest rates, forward for 15 years to come to a hypothetical situation in which the U.S. government is "debt free" by 2015.
The vaunted budget "surpluses" of 1998 and 1999 are derived from the so-called "Social Security Surplus" This "fund" has no money in it. It is chock full of Treasury debt paper. Do you want to show a "budget surplus"? Take a peice of paper. Write on it "IOU $xxx" (the xxx being higher than the sum of your debts). Count that IOU on your books as being an "asset". Presto, your debts are no more. It would be hilarious if it wasn't so potentially dangerous. |
