What spending cuts did Clinton have to make to give the US a slurpus?

Question

I asked this question earlier and didn't get any good answers

Answer 1

He cut welfare and continued the spending on defense that was started by Bush Sr. due to the demise of USSR.

Actually, the main reason there was a surplus was due to more tax money in the Gov't coffers in late 90's due to increased prosperity (.com boom).

Typically, it is very difficult for government to cut on spending, because the Reps and Senators do not want any losses in their district/state

Answer 2

The government has been borrowing the Social Security surplus and spending it on general government programs for several years. The net effect has been to disguise the true size of budget deficits in past years. For example, in fiscal year 1995, the government experienced a $226.4 billion deficit in its operating budget. However, since the Social Security Trust Fund had a surplus of $62.4 billion that year, the government simply borrowed the Social Security surplus and spent it as part of it general operating budget. The $62.4 billion Social Security surplus was deducted from the $226.4 billion deficit and the government reported an official deficit of only $164 billion.
In 1997, since there was a surplus in the Social Security Trust Fund of $81.4 billion, the actual $103.4 billion on-budget deficit was reduced by that amount and the government reported a total deficit of only $22.0 billion. It was in 1998 that the American people first had the wool pulled over their eyes on a grand scale. In that year, the operating budget of the federal government was still in the red with an actual deficit of $30 billion. It was the $99.2 billion surplus in the Social Security Trust Fund that enabled the government to report a budget surplus of $69.2 billion. During a year in which the United States Government spent $30 billion more than it collected in general revenue, it announced that there was a $69.2 billion overall surplus!


From that point on, the American people seemed to believe that there truly was excess money in the federal budget, and cunning politicians began building schemes to further mislead the people into believing that money was available for new programs and/or for cutting taxes. Any reader who has doubts about whether the government had a deficit or surplus in 1998 need only check out the size of the national debt in 1997 and 1998. The United States Treasury Department maintains a web site on the internet that provides public debt figures updated on a daily basis.
The total debt at the end of 1997 was $5,369.7 billion ($5.37 trillion). By the end of 1998, the debt had risen to $5,478.7 billion ($5.48 trillion). How could the national debt rise by $109 billion if the government had a $69.2 billion surplus? It couldn’t. The United States Government had to borrow $30 billion to pay the on-budget deficit. In addition, since the Social Security Surplus was all invested in United States Treasury securities as required by law, the governments debt to the Social Security fund also went up.

Answer 3

Probably because Clinton (and most Democrats) are not known for making spending cuts. In fact, most Dems raise taxes for more spending, etc.
The surplus mostly came from a booming economy thanks to the globalization of products and services because of the Internet and NOT because of the Clinton administration.
The stock market soared during that time because of Microsoft inventions that brought the internet into people's homes where they were able to access products from around the world.

Answer 4

I think you are asking the wrong question. The question should be what policies contributed to the boom of the 90's? The answer would in part deregulation in the 80's. The hands off approach the Reagan took on regulating buisness created many of the companies and incentives that drove the technological push during the 90's. Clinton just happened to inherit the results of 12 years of libertarian economic policy.

Answer 5

None, there never are any spending cuts. The federal budget is always bigger and bigger each year. Cuts that politicians refer to are decreases in the increases in spending.

The economy we had then was false growth. People were making quick money on tech and internet companies. These companies were not worth it. Eventually it crashed in early 2001. Then we had 9-11 and we were toast. We now have real economic growth because taxes were cut and money has been pumped into the economy.

Answer 6

Most of the surplus came from the Reagan administration,that gave us some tax breaks and reduced tax levels.
Generally it takes about 3 years for a tax change to be felt in the economy and your pocket book.
Except for income taxes that get you at the end every year.

Answer 7

Clinton cut the military and wanted to destroy it just like Carter did;.
The Republican Congress sent him a lean budget each year. (Too bad they didn't keep it up.)
It was really the Republican Congress that gave us the surplus, not Clinton. Then they started acting like Democrats in 2000, a shame.
Clinton didn't spend any money fighting terrorism. He just spent his time having fun & games. And tending to His own personal pleasures.
(thepaintm, above, gave probably the most accurate answer. Better than mine.)

Answer 8

He lucked out with the "DOT COM" boom. The Internet drove the market. Once in a while an industry boom happens. He had nothing to do with that. Actually did hardly anything during his presidency.

Answer 9

You still talking about Bill Clinton, hell,why not go back afew more years and talk about,Taft, or perhaps Harding,or some other President from the past, that has absolutely nothing to do with this incredibly bad mess of things going on in Iraq,and here at home as well.....Come back to the present,leave the past to the historians, and concentrate on what you can do to improve the future.....

Answer 10

President Clinton's economic policies created full employment which increased the flow of taxes to the US Treasury, creating a surplus.