Bill Clinton: “I don't know where it's going, but I hope that it won't be passed because if it is passed, it runs the risk of…”

“I don't know where it's going, but I hope that it won't be passed because if it is passed, it runs the risk of endangering our economic recovery by requiring excessive tax increases or very damaging cuts in defense or in investments in technology and job training or Medicare and Social Security. If it is disregarded--there's a provision in there to disregard it if 60 percent of both Houses want to do it--it amounts to turning the whole future of America over to 40 percent plus one of each House of the Congress. In an intensely partisan atmosphere, that's a recipe for total paralysis. Also, unlike all these State and local balanced budget amendments, this one makes utterly no distinction between the long-term investment and annual consumption. So for those reasons, I hope it won't be adopted. Finally, we're proving you can bring the deficit down. The deficit is now going to be about half the percentage of our annual income that it was when I took office if this new budget is adopted. So we're going to keep bringing it down. I think the administration has credibility on cutting spending. We presented the first cuts in discretionary spending since 1969 in this budget. So I think we've got a record; I think we're on the right track. And I think this remedy, while it's a very serious problem--what's happened to the deficit--this remedy is the wrong one. I hope the Congress will reject it. Bosnia”