Quote:
Originally Posted by PaulS
Deficits/Surpluses From 1940 Until 2010
I deleted everything prior to 1970. So now Bush's deficit has to do with what Clinton did but Obama's deficit has nothing to do with Bush did?
Year Nominal Dollars Inflation Adjusted
1970 2.8 Billion Dollar Deficit 15.316 Billion Deficit
1971 23 Billion Dollar Deficit 120.52 Billion Deficit
1972 23.4 Billion Dollar Deficit 118.638 Billion Deficit
1973 14.9 Billion Dollar Deficit 71.222 Billion Deficit
1974 6.1 Billion Dollar Deficit 26.23 Billion Deficit
1975 53.2 Billion Dollar Deficit 209.608 Billion Deficit
1976 73.7 Billion Dollar Deficit 274.901 Billion Deficit
1977 53.7 Billion Dollar Deficit 187.95 Billion Deficit
1978 59.2 Billion Dollar Deficit 192.4 Billion Deficit
1979 40.7 Billion Dollar Deficit 118.844 Billion Deficit
1980 73.8 Billion Dollar Deficit 190.404 Billion Deficit
1981 79 Billion Dollar Deficit 184.07 Billion Deficit
1982 128 Billion Dollar Deficit 281.6 Billion Deficit
1983 207.8 Billion Dollar Deficit 442.614 Billion Deficit
1984 185.4 Billion Dollar Deficit 378.216 Billion Deficit
1985 212.3 Billion Dollar Deficit 418.231 Billion Deficit
1986 221.2 Billion Dollar Deficit 429.128 Billion Deficit
1987 149.7 Billion Dollar Deficit 279.939 Billion Deficit
1988 155.2 Billion Dollar Deficit 277.808 Billion Deficit
1989 152.5 Billion Dollar Deficit 260.775 Billion Deficit
1990 221.2 Billion Dollar Deficit 358.344 Billion Deficit
1991 269.3 Billion Dollar Deficit 420.108 Billion Deficit
1992 290.4 Billion Dollar Deficit 438.504 Billion Deficit
1993 255.1 Billion Dollar Deficit 374.997 Billion Deficit
1994 203.2 Billion Dollar Deficit 290.576 Billion Deficit
1995 164 Billion Dollar Deficit 227.96 Billion Deficit
1996 107.5 Billion Dollar Deficit 145.125 Billion Deficit
1997 22 Billion Dollar Deficit 29.04 Billion Deficit
1998 69.2 Billion Dollar Surplus 89.96 Billion Surplus
1999 125.6 Billion Dollar Surplus 159.512 Billion Surplus
2000 236.4 Billion Dollar Surplus 290.772 Billion Surplus
2001 127.3 Billion Dollar Surplus 152.76 Billion Surplus
2002 157.8 Billion Dollar Deficit 186.204 Billion Deficit
2003 374 Billion Dollar Deficit 430.1 Billion Deficit
2004 413 Billion Dollar Deficit 462.56 Billion Deficit
2005 319 Billion Dollar Deficit 347.71 Billion Deficit
2006 248 Billion Dollar Deficit 260.4 Billion Deficit
2007 162 Billion Dollar Deficit 165.24 Billion Deficit
2008 455 Billion Dollar Deficit 455 Billion Deficit
2009 1400 Billion Dollar Deficit 1400 Billion Deficit
2010 1350 Billion Dollar Deficit 1350 Billion Deficit
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The trend, as your list shows, has been a fluctuating but steadily increasing deficit with the astounding 4 years of "surplus" during Clinton's final term. That is so astounding that it is amazing no-one has since suggested doing, specifically, what Clinton "did" to achieve those numbers. What he actually "did," was drastically cut military spending and re-invest some of the debt into low interest bonds, neither of which could account for the huge reversal in deficit. Of course, he was forced to curb some spending by the Gingrich Congress, but that was not enough either, since spending was still quite high. There was this market phenomenon referred to as the Dot. Com Bubble which artificially inflated the economy, creating a large influx of tax revenue, especially Social Security, collected. Much more Social Security money than usual was collected than required to pay current recipients so there was a huge "surplus", and since there is no "lock box" for that surplus it was used to buy Government Securities. Thus, instead of having to go the usual rout of borrowing from private sector agencies or foreign countries to pay for National debt obligations, the Government borrowed from itself by using the big surplus Social Security inflow, creating the illusion of deficit reduction. Yes, the deficit was "reduced" into a "surplus", but the National debt kept rising, and especially so in regard to the huge Social Security i.o.u's accrued by this magical method of deficit reduction. Of course, with the burst of the Dot. Com Bubble, the huge inflow of tax revenues was eliminated so this method lost a great deal of its source. You'll note that the "surplus" was almost cut in half in 2001 which was the last year (Oct. 1 2001), of the Clinton budget. Things went back to normal huge and growing deficits after that as the magical "source" of deficit reduction disappeared. And Obama's deficits are not a result of the Bush deficits. The only way to reduce deficits WITHOUT DECEPTION OR ACCOUNTING TRICKS is to spend less than is recieved in taxes. Spending more, no matter what you say is necessary to "stimulate" an economy, will always create deficits. And Obama has, and projects, to spend way more than is "necessary."
And the National Debt (distinct from annual budget deficits/surpluses) will massively increase.
Hybrid Mode
