Bill Clinton: “That's right. Most of your money--let me just say where most of the money goes. Most of the money goes to Social…”

“That's right. Most of your money--let me just say where most of the money goes. Most of the money goes to Social Security, national defense, Medicare, interest on the debt, you know, from accumulated debt. In the past, we quadrupled the debt in the 12 years before I became President. If we didn't have to make interest payments on the debt that was run up in the 12 years before I took office, the Federal budget would be in surplus today--not balanced, in surplus. So we've got to get the deficit down. You've got to get the debt down, because otherwise the interest payments eat you alive, just like your home mortgage payments or anything else. Those things are the lion's share of the budget. Everything else you think about being in the Federal budget--I mean, the national parks, the highway system, you name it, everything else, the Labor Department, small business--is only about a third of the budget, actually, slightly less. So you're right, the arts funding, it's quite small. [A participant thanked the SBA for helping her business become a success.]”