Dusty Johnson: “Many of us recognize that, upon his election 5 years ago, President Clinton faced a pool of red ink totaling around $292…”

“Many of us recognize that, upon his election 5 years ago, President Clinton faced a pool of red ink totaling around $292 billion per year, a pool of red ink that had exploded through the 1980s. When President Carter left office, this nation had accumulated a national debt of around $1 trillion. At the end of the 1980s, the accumulated debt of this country was four times that, in the $4 trillion range, and growing beyond sight. After five successive years in reducing the annual budget deficit, we now find ourselves, in this fiscal year, with a budget surplus as measured under the unified budget-scoring system. We are in the black for the first time in 30 years. The last time the Federal Government had a unified budget surplus was in 1969 during the Lyndon Johnson administration when taxes were raised in order to pay for the Vietnam war.”