Thanks for confirming which of us doesn't understand the topic being discussed. Nowhere did I suggest the debt had to evaporate for Clinton to have run an actual surplus. Clinton did NOT create an actual surplus for one year, let alone four. Your comment shows that you simply do not comprehend the difference between the budget and the actual results. The government has been in borrow and spend mode since IKE. Kennedy began the deficits and they have been escalated since. Clinton also created a trillion dollars of debt. Yet you and other liberals continue to pretend otherwise. $1.6 Trillion under Reagan. $1.6Trillion under Clinton (again, Clintons was less comparitively due to inflation).
Congress controls the purse strings. This is a concept the left has a very hard time with. Likely because Reagan dealt with Tips House and Clinton's best years were under the Rep led Congress.
http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/budget/Historicals
Year Total
Receipts Outlays Surplus or Deficit (–)
1789–1849 1,160 1,090 70
1850–1900 14,462 15,453 -991
1901 588 525 63
1902 562 485 77
1903 562 517 45
1904 541 584 -43
1905 544 567 -23
1906 595 570 25
1907 666 579 87
1908 602 659 -57
1909 604 694 -89
1910 676 694 -18
1911 702 691 11
1912 693 690 3
1913 714 715 −*
1914 725 726 −*
1915 683 746 -63
1916 761 713 48
1917 1,101 1,954 -853
1918 3,645 12,677 -9,032
1919 5,130 18,493 -13,363
1920 6,649 6,358 291
1921 5,571 5,062 509
1922 4,026 3,289 736
1923 3,853 3,140 713
1924 3,871 2,908 963
1925 3,641 2,924 717
1926 3,795 2,930 865
1927 4,013 2,857 1,155
1928 3,900 2,961 939
1929 3,862 3,127 734
1930 4,058 3,320 738
1931 3,116 3,577 -462
1932 1,924 4,659 -2,735
1933 1,997 4,598 -2,602
1934 2,955 6,541 -3,586
1935 3,609 6,412 -2,803
1936 3,923 8,228 -4,304
1937 5,387 7,580 -2,193
1938 6,751 6,840 -89
1939 6,295 9,141 -2,846
1940 6,548 9,468 -2,920
1941 8,712 13,653 -4,941
1942 14,634 35,137 -20,503
1943 24,001 78,555 -54,554
1944 43,747 91,304 -47,557
1945 45,159 92,712 -47,553
1946 39,296 55,232 -15,936
1947 38,514 34,496 4,018
1948 41,560 29,764 11,796
1949 39,415 38,835 580
1950 39,443 42,562 -3,119
1951 51,616 45,514 6,102
1952 66,167 67,686 -1,519
1953 69,608 76,101 -6,493
1954 69,701 70,855 -1,154
1955 65,451 68,444 -2,993
1956 74,587 70,640 3,947
1957 79,990 76,578 3,412
1958 79,636 82,405 -2,769
1959 79,249 92,098 -12,849
1960 92,492 92,191 301
1961 94,388 97,723 -3,335
1962 99,676 106,821 -7,146
1963 106,560 111,316 -4,756
1964 112,613 118,528 -5,915
1965 116,817 118,228 -1,411
1966 130,835 134,532 -3,698
1967 148,822 157,464 -8,643
1968 152,973 178,134 -25,161
1969 186,882 183,640 3,242
1970 192,807 195,649 -2,842
1971 187,139 210,172 -23,033
1972 207,309 230,681 -23,373
1973 230,799 245,707 -14,908
1974 263,224 269,359 -6,135
1975 279,090 332,332 -53,242
1976 298,060 371,792 -73,732
TQ 81,232 95,975 -14,744
1977 355,559 409,218 -53,659
1978 399,561 458,746 -59,185
1979 463,302 504,028 -40,726
1980 517,112 590,941 -73,830
1981 599,272 678,241 -78,968
1982 617,766 745,743 -127,977
1983 600,562 808,364 -207,802
1984 666,438 851,805 -185,367
1985 734,037 946,344 -212,308
1986 769,155 990,382 -221,227
1987 854,288 1,004,017 -149,730
1988 909,238 1,064,416 -155,178
1989 991,105 1,143,744 -152,639
1990 1,031,958 1,252,994 -221,036
1991 1,054,988 1,324,226 -269,238
1992 1,091,208 1,381,529 -290,321
1993 1,154,335 1,409,386 -255,051
1994 1,258,566 1,461,753 -203,186
1995 1,351,790 1,515,742 -163,952
1996 1,453,053 1,560,484 -107,431
1997 1,579,232 1,601,116 -21,884
1998 1,721,728 1,652,458 69,270
1999 1,827,452 1,701,842 125,610
2000 2,025,191 1,788,950 236,241
2001 1,991,082 1,862,846 128,236
2002 1,853,136 2,010,894 -157,758
2003 1,782,314 2,159,899 -377,585
2004 1,880,114 2,292,841 -412,727
2005 2,153,611 2,471,957 -318,346
2006 2,406,869 2,655,050 -248,181
2007 2,567,985 2,728,686 -160,701
2008 2,523,991 2,982,544 -458,553
2009 2,104,989 3,517,677 -1,412,688