Christopher Shays: “I was proud to play a role in crafting the budgets in the 1990s that not only got us to balance, but got us there ahead…”

“I was proud to play a role in crafting the budgets in the 1990s that not only got us to balance, but got us there ahead of time. We did it by cutting taxes, controlling the growth of spending, and growing the economy. But beneath the positive balance sheet of the government, there were many other deficits that we would soon have to address. Many have suggested the projected surplus was squandered as if it simply disappeared into thin air, but we intentionally acted to shore up the areas in which we had serious deficits. As a result, we have a budget deficit today. To suggest that we should not have recognized and dealt with the economic downturn and recession, the needs of protecting the homeland, or providing the resources to our military is extraordinarily shortsighted. Now that we have begun to address these areas, however, it is appropriate that we focus attention on the need to control the deficits, and this budget does just that.”