Posted by laramiebob on 4/3/2017 8:08:00 PM (view original):
Maybe so.......... but it did produce (under Bubba, by gum) an actual balanced budget and the ability to begin to pay down the debt.
Then the Rupugs won the W.H. to go along with the Congress and all things budget went straight into the gutter.
Some People Never Know.... Paul McCartney
This is one of the stupidest arguments I see from Democrats. The budget balanced because the economy was massively bullish. The economy was massively bullish because of the end of the Cold War, for one, and because of a lack of regulation on lending during the ensuing period of American optimism. We have since discovered the obvious - that growth at rates such as we saw in the '90s are utterly unsustainable, and that deregulation was disastrous for the long-term wellbeing of the US and world economy. But because the crash occurred during the Bush administration the Democrats like to blame it on the Republicans. News flash - that deregulation was primarily a result of Clinton policies. Which doesn't mean that we point the finger at the Democratic party either. It was largely a bipartisan effort at massive shortsightedness. But the economic growth of the '90s had very little to do with Clinton's policies, and if anything his administration should be perceived as culpable for not attempting to reign in economic growth to a sustainable rate. And the crash had little or nothing to do with Bush or the Republican party, though they can likewise be held responsible for some questionable stimulus plans.