Second, I'd guess that the reason that the debt would go up despite an operating surplus would be because of interest on the existing debt.
Wrong. Interest is an expense just like other operating expenses. It increases any deficit. The fact is that if the national debt increases during a year, there was, de facto, a deficit. This is basic governmental accounting.
Significant progress was made in stemming the tide.
Right, but there were no surplusses. Never were.
That progress, by the way, was a direct result of Newt Gingrinch's Contract With America, which was the framework by which our nation reduced its wasteful spending on such programs as welfare. True enough, Clinton did get credit for it, but it was Gingrich who dreamed it up, Gingrich who made it happen.
house.gov
By the way. If you were to count the unfunded pension liabilitiy for SS, which SHOULD BE ACCOUNTED FOR in my opinion and that of the Accounting Principles Board Opinion No. 8 if one digests it thoroughly, these proforma annual increases in the national debt are larger EVERY YEAR.
SS is a looming problem that is politically impossible to fix at this point, and which threatens the very existence of this nation. This is what happens when a liberal social program goes awry. |
