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[Dutchling]

Maybe [the Republican Party] will be honest and come back as the Jesus Dollar Party.

Sigging this.

[Kon]

That6's not to say someone qualified never runs. The Clitons gave us a surplus economically, after all, and everyone looks back fondly on the nineties. Too bad presidents are formally restricted to two terms now (thanks congress!).

Clinton didn't give us surpluses. The debt increased every year he was president.

[Reelya]

Graphs disprove that claim

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_United_States_public_debt


"Time series of U.S. public debt overlaid with party affiliation of the President. The upper graph shows the U.S. public debt in trillions of USD while the lower graph shows the U.S. public debt as a percentage of GDP. (Data are from the 2009 U.S. Budget.)"

[Kon]

Graphs disprove that claim

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_United_States_public_debt


"Time series of U.S. public debt overlaid with party affiliation of the President. The upper graph shows the U.S. public debt in trillions of USD while the lower graph shows the U.S. public debt as a percentage of GDP. (Data are from the 2009 U.S. Budget.)"

The treasury department confirms that claim:

Fiscal Year - Year Ending - National Debt Deficit
FY1993  09/30/1993  $4.411488 trillion   
FY1994  09/30/1994  $4.692749 trillion  $281.26 billion
FY1995  09/29/1995  $4.973982 trillion  $281.23 billion
FY1996  09/30/1996  $5.224810 trillion  $250.83 billion
FY1997  09/30/1997  $5.413146 trillion  $188.34 billion
FY1998  09/30/1998  $5.526193 trillion  $113.05 billion
FY1999  09/30/1999  $5.656270 trillion  $130.08 billion
FY2000  09/29/2000  $5.674178 trillion  $17.91 billion
FY2001  09/28/2001  $5.807463 trillion  $133.29 billion

To confirm these numbers, go to treasury.gov.
Scroll all the way down to the "Bureaus" section and click on "Bureau of the Public Debt" which takes you to http://www.publicdebt.treas.gov/
Scroll down to the section "The U.S. Public Debt" and click on "See the U.S. Public Debt to the Penny."
For each year, enter the date the fiscal year ended.

[MetalSlimeHunt]

Your own numbers demonstrate the deficit decreasing massively during Clinton's presidency. The debt itself will always go up if we aren't running a surplus to pay it due to interest. That's what a surplus is, not having a deficit.

[Shadowlord]

That6's not to say someone qualified never runs. The Clitons gave us a surplus economically, after all, and everyone looks back fondly on the nineties. Too bad presidents are formally restricted to two terms now (thanks congress!).

Clinton didn't give us surpluses. The debt increased every year he was president.

Now hold on. http://www.factcheck.org/2008/02/the-budget-and-deficit-under-clinton/

[Kon]

Your own numbers demonstrate the deficit decreasing massively during Clinton's presidency. The debt itself will always go up if we aren't running a surplus to pay it due to interest.

Yes, there was a great improvement under Clinton. But, it is Congress who writes and passes the budgets. That is a fact. The Republicans controlled both the House and the Senate during Clinton's last six years. That is a fact. Under the Republicans, Congress came very close to balancing the budget.

[MetalSlimeHunt]

Moving the goalposts, are we?

[darkrider2]

wut.

[Kon]

Your own numbers demonstrate the deficit decreasing massively during Clinton's presidency. The debt itself will always go up if we aren't running a surplus to pay it due to interest. That's what a surplus is, not having a deficit.

What? The debt increased every year Clinton was president. There were no surplusses -- only deficits during Clinton's 8 years.

[darkrider2]

Your own numbers demonstrate the deficit decreasing massively during Clinton's presidency. The debt itself will always go up if we aren't running a surplus to pay it due to interest. That's what a surplus is, not having a deficit.

What? The debt increased every year Clinton was president. There were no surplusses -- only deficits during Clinton's 8 years.

Okay is this guy trollin?

[Reelya]

It also makes sense to inflation-adjust the value of a debt, which none of the figures cited are taking into account.

Given that inflation will ALWAYS be positive unless you're in a recession. Some amount of inflation is both good and necessary for a capitalist system to even function properly. If you can at least balance the budget, the "real world" cost of paying interest each year decreases.

Better still is to look at percentage of GDP of the debt (which is more meaningful than inflation-adjusted figures), which tells you exactly how much relative tax rates would have increase to pay it off. That 1999-2000 Clinton budget with a paper deficit of $17 billion represents a big drop in total debt value in both inflation-adjusted terms and GDP terms.

Just a little thing called "actual value" you might be interested in.

[Leafsnail]

Okay is this guy trollin?

Yeah.  Either make a sarcastic one liner or ignore him because you're not going to get any actual discussion out of him.

[Mictlantecuhtli]

Clinton didn't give us surpluses. The debt increased every year he was president.

Fiscal Year - Year Ending - National Debt Deficit
FY1993  09/30/1993  $4.411488 trillion   
FY1994  09/30/1994  $4.692749 trillion  $281.26 billion
FY1995  09/29/1995  $4.973982 trillion  $281.23 billion
FY1996  09/30/1996  $5.224810 trillion  $250.83 billion
FY1997  09/30/1997  $5.413146 trillion  $188.34 billion
FY1998  09/30/1998  $5.526193 trillion  $113.05 billion
FY1999  09/30/1999  $5.656270 trillion  $130.08 billion
FY2000  09/29/2000  $5.674178 trillion  $17.91 billion
FY2001  09/28/2001  $5.807463 trillion  $133.29 billion

Yes, there was a great improvement under Clinton. But, it is Congress who writes and passes the budgets. That is a fact. The Republicans controlled both the House and the Senate during Clinton's last six years. That is a fact. Under the Republicans, Congress came very close to balancing the budget.

[misko27]

Okay is this guy trollin?

Yeah.  Either make a sarcastic one liner or ignore him because you're not going to get any actual discussion out of him.

*Sarcasm Senses twitch*

Perhaps he's refering to Factistan, Where all sorts of facts are sold to whomever wants one to suit them.