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To: KyrosL who wrote (37677)	1/20/2000 10:28:00 AM
From: Les H	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 99985

OT - The problem comes from the entitlement programs which were put on autopilot in the 70's, i.e., tying their growth to the CPI. That was a direct result of the Democratic Congress voting in annual increases in benefits of 20% and more during that decade. After ten years of that foolishness, they voted to tie increases to the CPI. There was also the problem of the government borrowing long-term (30-year bonds) with extremely high rates in the early 80's to fund annual budget deficits. What can you do when your predecessors inflate the economy and cause rates to run up to 15-20 percent, and you're now in the worst recession since the 30's with falling tax revenue? I can't remember the last time the government cut spending on social programs which are at least 70 percent of the budget ex-interest. If you include the social programs, such as the various tax credits, the proportion is much higher. As I recall in 1981-1982, there was the issue of the government enacting spending programs to pull the economy out of the recession. By the time these were enacted, the economy was already coming out of the recession.