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Congress will likely increase the debt ceiling by $1.8 trillion to roughly $14 trillion, before the year-end holiday recess. The House will act first, followed by the Senate. Congress has to raise the ceiling or the U.S. government will grind to a halt in a few weeks. There's little chance the majority, led by the Democrats, will face any substantive opposition from the minority, the Republicans. The reason? In 1995-96, the Republican-led Congress picked a fight with President Bill Clinton, D-Arkansas, and temporarily shut down the federal government. The result was a public backlash against the Republican Party.
Voters in 1996 were not only upset at essential services not operating -- they were really steamed that the the party responsible for Congress' agenda at the time, the Republicans, did not have the maturity to reach a compromise with President Clinton. Most Americans want both parties to work together -- to compromise and find solutions to the nation's problems. The high-profile government shutdown led by then-House Speaker Newt Gingrich, R-Georgia, was seen as a sign of disrespect for the American people and their public service needs: you won't see the Republicans try that tactic again.
Economic/Fiscal Analysis: One caveat: The debt ceiling issue could get trickier, politically, if Democrats attempt to attach a large jobs bill to the debt ceiling. More than likely, the jobs program will take the form of separate legislation.
The U.S. government last balanced its budget in fiscal 2001, the last budget of President Clinton's administration, with a $128.2 billion budget surplus. Clinton also produced budget surpluses in fiscal 2000, $236.2 billion; fiscal 1999, $125.6 billion; and fiscal 1998, $69.3 billion.
President George W. Bush took office in January 2001, proposed a 2001 income tax cut, Congress passed it, and instantaneously turned the federal government's $128.2 billion budget surplus in to a $157.8 billion budget deficit in fiscal 2002. The U.S. government's budget has been in a deficit ever since.
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Financial Editor Joseph Lazzaro is writing a book on the U.S. presidency and the U.S. economy.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
12-14-2009 @ 7:55PM
Afi K. James said...
Just another example of how inept our congress truly are.
12-14-2009 @ 10:49PM
Peter Van Schaik said...
"Most Americans want both parties to work together -- to compromise and find solutions to the nation's problems." When you consider the scope of the problems we face as a nation, that is really not asking all that much. Solving our problems instead of playing politics is the absolute minimum we should expect from those we elected to represent us in Washington.
12-22-2009 @ 8:38PM
gnifly said...
This reporter either has holes in his memory or is in the tank for the Dems. Clinton did this country a favor by working with the Republicans and balancing the budget. Then when Bush cut taxes the IRS received more revenue than ever. The only problem was that Republicans decided to be buddy-buddy with Dems and go on a spending spree. Can someone please start telling the truth?
1-21-2010 @ 4:53PM
paintballsfortwo said...
More lies and broken promises. Funny how nobody remembers Obamas speeches about deficit spending and not increasing the national debt. Not that Bush was fiscally responsible either. When the blinders come off, you realize different parties, same agenda. Thats because they have the same puppetmaster.
12-16-2009 @ 5:00PM
james0edward said...
Did the Social Security Recipients get a $250 payment granted for January 2010 in any of the U.S. Congress actions this week ? Is this $250 , as per HR 3597 for example, going to be passed before the holiday or not? Has Hoyer changed his mind, so that he is now in agreement with Obama on the President's desire to provide this $250 payment to Social Security Recipients in January 2010 ?
December 16, 2009 1:57 p.m. PDT.
2-13-2010 @ 10:48PM
Rob Boyd said...
Remind me not to buy your book. Any fool can tell by looking at the US Treasury department charts that Clinton NEVER ran a surplus. Every single year of his term the national debt continued to climb. If you cant get such basic facts correct, I wont waste my money reading your book because I'm sure it will be full of other errors..