Robert Torricelli: “In these times of extraordinary budgetary wealth, it is easy to forget it was less than a decade ago that a now famous…”

“In these times of extraordinary budgetary wealth, it is easy to forget it was less than a decade ago that a now famous comment was made that the U.S. Government would have deficits as far as the eye could see. Indeed, in 1992 when the Clinton administration began, the annual deficit was $290 billion and was projected to grow to $455 billion this year. Today, not only has that annual deficit been eliminated but the budget surplus is $237 billion, for the first time in generations, 3 successive years of budget surpluses, leading to the extraordinary ability of the U.S. Treasury by next year to have reduced the aggregate historic debt of the United States by $600 billion. It is now realistic to discuss the elimination of all outstanding U.S. Government debt--not in another generation, perhaps not even in another decade, but in our own time, on our own watch. This extraordinary change of the national finances has led to the recognition that the Federal Government could generate a $3.1 trillion surplus, even while excluding the accumulating Social Security surplus that we mutually agree needs to be held in reserve. This is clearly a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.”