Mark Neumann: “I believe that we should introduce a budget that is balanced in 1998, yes. I think it would be inexcusable for this…”

“I believe that we should introduce a budget that is balanced in 1998, yes. I think it would be inexcusable for this body, short of some major change in the economy, to not get to a balanced budget by 1999 at the very latest. The revenues are there. Our spending growth has been curtailed. There is no reason in the world that we cannot hit a balanced budget. We keep talking about this in Washington language, a balanced budget, and out there in the real world that does not always mean a lot. Let me translate it because Alan Greenspan did a great job of it today. He talked about the fact that if we could get to a balanced budget and actually go past that and start running surpluses so we start paying down the Federal debt, interest rates may drop another half to a full point, so we could see lower interest rates. That means something to families. When they are making their home mortgage payment, if the interest rate is lower, they just keep more money in their own home instead of sending it out here to Washington. That is what this is about. It is about real people having the opportunity to be able to afford to buy the American dream, a home or a car of their choosing, because the interest rates have stayed low. And when the interest rates stay low, when people buy those houses and cars, others have to go to work. We talked about welfare reform. We finally got welfare reform to a point where able-bodied welfare recipients are required to go back into the work force.”