Republicans Claim Credit for Clinton Surpluses

http://crooksandliars.com/jon-perr/republicans-claim-credit-for-clinton-surpluses



From C&L:

Republicans Claim Credit for Clinton Surpluses
By Jon Perr Tuesday Feb 02, 2010 8:00am

Still smarting after his budgetary beat down at the hands of President Obama Friday, Texas Congressman Jeb Hensarling and the Republican Study Committee this weekend invited a second round of punishment. "I stand by what I said," Hensarling said Saturday, referring to his manifestly ridiculous claim the previous day that "the old annual deficits under Republicans have now become the monthly deficits under Democrats." As it turns out, he wasn't talking about the red ink Republican George W. Bush. What he meant, Hensarling instead made clear, is the House GOP is now taking credit for the budget surpluses of the Clinton years, surpluses fueled in part by the 1993 deficit reduction package every single Republican in Congress voted against.

As sentient Americans will recall, the U.S. national debt tripled under Ronald Reagan only to double again George W. Bush. In between, President Clinton erased the GOP budget deficits, producing a $236 billion surplus by his last year in office and leaving Bush a 10 year forecasted surplus of $5.6 trillion. As President Obama made clear in setting Hensarling straight on Friday, he inherited a $1.2 trillion annual deficit when he was sworn in January 2009:

"Now, look, let's talk about the budget once again, because I'll go through it with you line by line. The fact of the matter is, is that when we came into office, the deficit was $1.3 trillion. -- $1.3 So when you say that suddenly I've got a monthly budget that is higher than the -- a monthly deficit that's higher than the annual deficit left by the Republicans, that's factually just not true, and you know it's not true."...

...The Republicans, as you'll remember, captured the House in 1994, maintaining control of the chamber until they were ejected in 2006. During that span, Bill Clinton presided over the end of the Reagan-Bush I deficits, only see to George W. Bush blow the surplus on tax cuts for the rich, the funded Medicare prescription drug program and the war in Iraq.

it was due to Reagan's policies finally taking hold.

It's to a point now that they actually believe the fiction they spew...

It's wierd...it's like there's "reality" and then there's "GOPeality."

surpluses fueled in part by the 1993 deficit reduction package every single Republican in Congress voted against

AGAINST.

Sometimes I just want to plant my foot soooo far, they can smell my toes. Hensarling is just such the ass that begs for a booting.

My God. Repukes would claim credit for hanging the moon if we let them. What a bunch of lying, opportunistic bastards.