Spooky Dude
New member
Clinton's presidency? The claim is generally made that Clinton had a surplus of $69 billion in FY1998, $123 billion in FY1999 and $230 billion in FY2000 http://archives.cnn.com/2000/ALLPOLITICS/stories/09/27/clinton.surplus/
While not defending the increase of the federal debt under President Bush, it's curious to see Clinton's record promoted as having generated a surplus. It never happened. There was never a surplus and the facts support that position. Here is a credible and verified link that details what the national debt is daily, and breaks it down to specify debt held by the public and intragovernmental holdings. http://www.treasurydirect.gov/NP/BPDLogin?application=np
From the first day of the fiscal year of 1998 to the last day of the fiscal year 2000 (October 1st, 1997 - September 30th, 2000), the national debt went from 5.42 T to 5.67 T. And from the first day of his presidency to the last day (January 20th, 1993 - January 19th, 2001), the national debt went from 4.19T to 5.73 T.
As can clearly be seen, in no year did the national debt go down, nor did Clinton leave Bush with a surplus that Bush subsequently turned into a deficit. Yes, the deficit was almost eliminated in FY2000 (with a deficit of "only" $17.9 billion), but it never reached zero--let alone a positive surplus number. And Clinton's last budget proposal for FY2001, which ended in September 2001, generated a $133.29 billion deficit.
So why do they say he had a surplus? The national debt is made up of public debt and intragovernmental holdings. The public debt is debt held by the public, normally including things such as treasury bills, savings bonds, and other instruments the public can purchase from the government. Intragovernmental holdings, on the other hand, is when the government borrows money from itself--mostly borrowing money from social security, as Clinton did. If you reference the link, you will notice that while the PUBLIC DEBT went down in each of those fiscal years claimed to have held surpluses, the INTRAGOVERNMENTAL HOLDINGS went up each year by a far greater amount--and, in turn, the total national debt (which is public debt + intragovernmental holdings) went up. Therein lies the discrepancy.
When it is claimed that Clinton paid down the national debt, that is patently false--as can be seen, the national debt went up every single year.
To verify that my link is to a valid government information source, please follow these steps:
1. Go to the U.S. Treasury website: http://www.ustreas.gov/
2. Click on "Bureau of the Public Debt" located at the bottom of the page: Takes you to http://www.publicdebt.treas.gov/
3. Scroll down to the section "The U.S. Public Debt" and click on "See the U.S. Public Debt to the Penny."
4. This takes you to the link I originally provided: http://www.treasurydirect.gov/NP/BPDLogin?application=np
While not defending the increase of the federal debt under President Bush, it's curious to see Clinton's record promoted as having generated a surplus. It never happened. There was never a surplus and the facts support that position. Here is a credible and verified link that details what the national debt is daily, and breaks it down to specify debt held by the public and intragovernmental holdings. http://www.treasurydirect.gov/NP/BPDLogin?application=np
From the first day of the fiscal year of 1998 to the last day of the fiscal year 2000 (October 1st, 1997 - September 30th, 2000), the national debt went from 5.42 T to 5.67 T. And from the first day of his presidency to the last day (January 20th, 1993 - January 19th, 2001), the national debt went from 4.19T to 5.73 T.
As can clearly be seen, in no year did the national debt go down, nor did Clinton leave Bush with a surplus that Bush subsequently turned into a deficit. Yes, the deficit was almost eliminated in FY2000 (with a deficit of "only" $17.9 billion), but it never reached zero--let alone a positive surplus number. And Clinton's last budget proposal for FY2001, which ended in September 2001, generated a $133.29 billion deficit.
So why do they say he had a surplus? The national debt is made up of public debt and intragovernmental holdings. The public debt is debt held by the public, normally including things such as treasury bills, savings bonds, and other instruments the public can purchase from the government. Intragovernmental holdings, on the other hand, is when the government borrows money from itself--mostly borrowing money from social security, as Clinton did. If you reference the link, you will notice that while the PUBLIC DEBT went down in each of those fiscal years claimed to have held surpluses, the INTRAGOVERNMENTAL HOLDINGS went up each year by a far greater amount--and, in turn, the total national debt (which is public debt + intragovernmental holdings) went up. Therein lies the discrepancy.
When it is claimed that Clinton paid down the national debt, that is patently false--as can be seen, the national debt went up every single year.
To verify that my link is to a valid government information source, please follow these steps:
1. Go to the U.S. Treasury website: http://www.ustreas.gov/
2. Click on "Bureau of the Public Debt" located at the bottom of the page: Takes you to http://www.publicdebt.treas.gov/
3. Scroll down to the section "The U.S. Public Debt" and click on "See the U.S. Public Debt to the Penny."
4. This takes you to the link I originally provided: http://www.treasurydirect.gov/NP/BPDLogin?application=np