Word: surplus
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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...incredible shrinking surplus is suddenly at the center of Washington debate. Just last fall, the Capitol seemed awash in money--and plans to spend it. Candidate George W. Bush wanted major tax cuts, missile defense and other big ticket items. Al Gore talked up a hefty new prescription-drug entitlement and more money for education. As recently as a few weeks ago, there seemed to be enough funds for Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill to say he hoped that the corporate income tax could be abolished in the not too distant future. But such hopes have been dashed. Bush...
...infuriate G.O.P. conservatives. Bush officials have also hinted at unspecified spending cuts later this year--something guaranteed to annoy politicians of all stripes. Just last week Bush's 2002 defense request for $328.9 billion came under fire as potentially budget busting. Said an Administration official, referring to the the surplus: "We have to be very careful with this...
...first thing the Administration needs to be careful to do is to win the war over who lost the surplus. Democrats blame Bush's $1.35 trillion tax cut. Without that money, they argue, Bush could be forced to raid sacrosanct Medicare and Social Security trust funds. "This new Administration inherited the largest budget surplus in our nation's history," complains John Spratt, senior Democrat on the House Budget Committee. "Yet after only five months, the record eight-year string of improving budgets is over...
Republicans, not surprisingly, take a more rosy view. They don't deny that the surplus is shrinking, but they blame what they dub the Clinton economic slowdown. (Most economists blame the tax cut and the slowdown for the surplus shrinkage.) And the G.O.P. points out that even a reduced, $160 billion surplus amounts to the second largest ever. Republicans predict that Bush's tax rebate will soon give the sluggish economy a lift, generating more growth and higher tax receipts. And they claim that the real goal of the Democrats is to repeal Bush's tax cut. As Senator Pete...
...course, budget projections are notoriously fuzzy. A few years ago, no one foresaw the surplus. This year many experts were surprised it melted. About the best thing politicians can hope for is that these latest gloomy estimates will prove wrong...