Political Quotes

“Mr. President, with the Federal Government apparently on the verge of its first unified budget surplus in nearly 30 years, many people are beginning to ask what comes next, what should happen to the budget surplus if and when it materializes. Should we spend it? Should we begin to pay down the national debt? Should we provide hard-working American families with some meaningful and, I would say, long overdue tax relief? Before we try to answer those questions, I think it is worthwhile to recall how we got here. Remember, it was not that long ago--in fact, it was as recently as February of 1995--that President Clinton submitted a budget that would have locked in annual deficits in the range of $200 billion in the foreseeable future. A unanimous Senate rejected the Clinton budget on May 19, 1995, and from that point on the debate took a fundamental turn from whether to balance the Federal budget to how to balance it. During the last 3 years, we began to slow Federal spending growth. We have eliminated 307 mostly small Federal programs. But perhaps the most decisive factor has been what we did not do. We did not impose another large tax increase on already overtaxed families and businesses. And that gave people enough room to do the things that they would naturally do to result in an invigoration of our economy.”