Word: surplus
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...Clinton has pushed a $300 billion spending program, including a new prescription-drug program for Medicare; congressional fists are already clenched. There is talk of grand ideological warfare, of reckless spendthrift Democrats and reckless plutocrat-loving Republicans fighting over how to divvy up the glorious $3 trillion surplus. In this season's budget politics, much of the fight is phony. But that doesn't mean no one's going to get hurt...
...committees of Congress that have to pass 13 spending bills by the end of the month to keep the government running. So far, only two have been sent to Clinton to sign; he has threatened to veto others if they gouge spending too deeply. But, if a $3 trillion surplus is expected over the next 10 years, why would lawmakers be forced to gut programs like air-traffic control and food inspection and counterterrorism? Because two years ago, they promised they would. The problem is the famous 1997 Balanced Budget Act, which balanced the budget only because Congress...
...require, for instance, slicing $16 billion this year from the huge, $315 billion bill that covers health and education. Increasing Pentagon outlays, as both sides have promised to do, could require 50% cuts elsewhere. That's not going to happen. But the minute the lawmakers bust the caps, the surplus starts disappearing...
...slash future spending by billions of dollars. If lawmakers bail, then there's less extra money to pay down the debt. Republican proposals so far, rather than cutting spending, would increase it next year about $25 billion, which more than wipes out next year's projected $14 billion surplus. The only place to find that money is to raise taxes (the White House still loves a tobacco tax) or raid Social Security, as lawmakers have routinely done for years...
...going to have to be raised if Congress is ever going to do its books without all the tricks." After all, even a phantom month has to be paid for eventually; putting off the hurt only magnifies the problem for next time. But without those spending caps intact, the surplus is a shadow of its former self ? and that means no tax cut for the GOP, no prescription-drug plan or new teachers for Clinton. No election-year goodies. No wonder they want to delay the tough decisions until...