My budget has funded a responsible increase in our ongoing operations. It has funded our Nation’s important priorities. It has protected Social Security and Medicare. And our surpluses are big enough that there is still money left over. Many of you have talked about the need to pay down our national debt. I listened, and I agree. We owe it to our children and our grandchildren to act now, and I hope you will join me to pay down $2 trillion in debt during the next 10 years. At the end of those 10 years, we will have paid down all the debt that is available to retire. That is more debt repaid more quickly than has ever been repaid by any nation at any time in history.

Of course, the opposite occurred, with debt held by the public increasing from $3.5 trillion to nearly $6 trillion and gross federal debt going from $5.6 trillion to nearly $10 trillion. In fact, conservatives argued in 2001 that the very existence of a budget surplus was a valid reason to enact large, regressive tax cuts. But this is precisely what happens when you have an administration that believes “deficits don’t matter.”

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ORIGINAL: mnottertail

and reciepts are down 27% from 2001 recession levels now.

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ORIGINAL: mnottertail

It is irresponsibly premature to accuse the conservatives (rinos, republicans, neo-cons, and nutsuckers) of fiscal responsibility now or at some future time; simultaneously, it is irresponsibly inaccurate to accuse them of fiscal responsibility in the past.

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ORIGINAL: housesub4you

Or perhaps it could be a WAR the American people where lied to about, you know the whole WMD thing and perhaps the fact that the war was never in the national budget until Obama put it there.

Ahhhh....yes the battle cry of the GOP  9/11...9/11....we must all live in fear because we began a war against a country that had nothing to do with 9/11...I wonder why Bush never held the Saudis responsible, you know for all the terrorist that came from their country.  And don't you just love the fact while GOV of Texas he had Bin ladan stay at the Texas Mansion and got money from the Bin laden family for all his failed oil companies...Gee  facts facts facts....of that when the great Reagan was in office he sold all the weapons to the very people who attacked us...  Facts facts facts.... Dam thing about facts, no matter how to try to deny them they are still there

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So the question is misleading in that the president alone cannot balance a budget. Congress has authority over financial and budgetary matters.

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ORIGINAL: Sanity


And then 9/11 happened. 

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ORIGINAL: Sanity


Oh yeah, the Clinton recession, I remember that.

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ORIGINAL: mnottertail

and reciepts are down 27% from 2001 recession levels now.

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ORIGINAL: jlf1961

Dwight Eisenhower was last Republican President to preside over a balanced budget. He had a balanced budget in 1956 and 1957. Since then, there have been two presidents to preside over balanced budgets, LBJ in 1969 and Clinton in 1998 through 2001. During the last 40 years there have been five budget surpluses, all five were under Democratic Presidents: 1969, 1998, 1999, 2000, and 2001.

To clarify, congress authorizes the budget. Between 1955 and 1981 Democrats held majorities in both chambers of Congress. From 1981 - 1987 republicans controlled the Senate, while Democrats held onto the House and then regained the Senate while holding controlling the House as well from 1987 -1995.

So the question is misleading in that the president alone cannot balance a budget. Congress has authority over financial and budgetary matters.

One point that is often misunderstood is that the budget for a President's first year in office is set by the prior President. Thus the balanced budget of 1969 was due to LBJ's budget even though Nixon was president for most of the year.

Now, since Eisenhower, how many republican presidents balanced the budget again?

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ORIGINAL: rulemylife

Absolutely amazing.

Bush inherited the Clinton recession but Obama did not inherit the Bush recession.

Remember when you were a kid and you used to spin around until you made yourself dizzy?