Darlene Hooley: “Americans now are looking at the longest peacetime expansion of the United States economy since the start of the 20th…”

“Americans now are looking at the longest peacetime expansion of the United States economy since the start of the 20th century. The outlook for our future is rosy. Economic growth is expected to continue to rise, and unemployment is predicted to stay below 5 percent. Inflation is expected to remain low, and it is believed that the interest rates on mortgages and loans will continue to remain attractive. This booming Federal economy has passed on some benefits to the Federal Government. The most notable are the increased tax revenues and Social Security dollars that result from a fully employed workforce. With this economy, Congress is faced with a new and interesting predicament of deciding what to do with those Social Security surpluses. If we look only at the short term, we might be tempted to spend those funds on what later generations would call reckless tax cuts. Now, I support cutting taxes and I hope we can find some room this year to do just that. But the American public is more savvy and will not condone irresponsible use of projected budget surpluses. My constituents, if they retired, would not go out and spend all of their retirement on a new sailboat the day they retired. Well, I think they want us to show that same fiscal restraint and discipline. While economists are predicting good times ahead, our future also holds a growing number of baby-boomers who will be moving from the work force into retirement.”