How to spend the surplus

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Depending on how wildly optimistic your assumptions, we are expected to have a Federal budget surplus of up to 2 trillion dollars over the next 10 years. Of course we can project economic activity a decade in advance, can't we? Yep, just as surely as we can project political activity that far as well.

So it's interesting to notice that while that 2 trillion was mostly smoke and mirrors, the NEARLY HALF of it that Congress spent in the last WEEK are real dollars. That's nearly half of a whole *decade's* worth of surplus spent in one week. And spent on the most amazing variety of porkbarrel projects nobody wants except the special interests, and on targeted tax cuts targeted to special interests, and on a certain amount of "re-elect me" goodies for everybody.

And if these surpluses don't pan out? Anyone remember the late '80's, when Reagan's tax cuts had the economy booming, Federal tax revenues were pouring in at record rates, and Congress (amazed and delighted by the revenue stream) was spending it several times faster than it was coming in? Not faster than they *hoped* it would come in, based on their optimistic assumptions, of course.

One of the wonders of politics. Put a blindfold on them, spin them around three times, and they see future money coming and spend it NOW. Happens every time.

-- Flint (flintc@mindspring.com), November 02, 2000

Answers

I don't consider it a surplus. It is money owed back to the government to pay off debts accumulated during the terms of irresponsible spend-happy lunatics like Reagan, who fattened up the corporations to the point where they now have complete control over the people. The responsible thing to do is to get the government back into a sound financial position so that it is able to do the things it was designed to do without overtaxing the people.

-- (can't@spend.forever), November 02, 2000.

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