Please describe one program that President Clinton did without the aid of the Republicans in Congress that lowered the annual budget deficit.

The budget surpluses were over before the end of the Clinton Admnistration. However, that was due to an economic down turn. However, Al Gore and President Bush was too stupid to realize it.

Yes, the Republicans from 2000 to 2006 failed to act like conservatives and that is why they are not out of office with no good future prospects.

Yet, if you look at the proposals for the current Democratic candidates for Presidents, they are all proposing budget busting programs that will require massive tax increse just to keep the annual deficits where they are now. If fiscal conservatism was imporant, John Edwards would not be getting any support.

It was Bush and his entitlement programs that turned the surplus into a deficit, along with the GOP’s lack of fiscal responsibility. I remember the Republicans were saying that deficits don’t matter. Remember the deficit was larger under their leadership than it has been under Reid and Pelosi, who wanted Pay-go. Bush only started using the veto after the Democrats took over so that he could appear to be fiscally responsible- but its a real joke, as he never vetoed bloated Republican budgets btwn 2001 and 2006.

The only reason tha President Clinton was fiscally conservative is his inability to start any new programs. If you would have still had a Democratic controlled Congress, new entitlement programs would have been created while welfare reform would not have been passed.

The Clinton budget surplused was caused by the lack of government expanion along with the dot.com bubble. The Clinton administration was running deficits but January 2001 because the dotcom bubble had burst. Besides, he only hit his budget number in the last two years of the presidency and were due as much to the Republicans no wanting to give Clinton credit for anything.

Compare that to the coming Clinton Adminstration with Pelosi and Reid being incharge of the budget process. Increased spending for healthcare, education, entitlements, etc will drive the deficits up

If you go read Bob Woodward’s book “The Agenda’ you will see that Clinton did not have a clue.

If the Republicans alone were to be credited for sound fiscal policy in the ’90′s, wouldn’t they have insisted that Bush maintain a balanced budget after 2001?

Do you think that Presiden Clinton’s spending habit would have been a little different if he had not spent the last six years with Republicans controlling Congress?

Actually, the Clinton Administration is a good advertisement for hands off government. The government started no new economic program for six years and the economy prospered.

Have your forgotten how fast the Democrats are willing to hand over the common man to Big Government.

Of course, the Republians will quickly be out of business. Demographics changes in the U.S. were going to cause it no matter what but the incompetence of the Bush Administration just cause it to happen faster.

The real question is what will the U.S. be like as a one party state after the republicans go away.

Seriously, if there is anything I’ve noticed in politics, its that the people LOVE republicans no matter how slimy they get. Everytime I think they as a party have basically shown how quick they are to hand over the common man to Big Business et al… come election time they are still in office. The people want to give the GOP a shot. If just one of them would show up, be serious about getting us off oil, stop seeming like the gov’t gets to legislate morality, making our schools better and curb some of the rampant bribery(maybe by actually doing so) they could still pull off a win in ’08.

They won’t, because its going to take another election cycle for them to get out from under the lessons taught them by the Bush administration. Loyalty to the ideology thats tanked the US for the last 6 years is not going to win them anything. They need to not just disassociate themsevles from Bush, but his entire agenda.

I’m a registered independent that has never voted Democratic or Republican in the presidential elections. I don’t care for any of the Big Two. And that allows me a somewhat objective view. I call it as I see it. The Republicans are failing.

Real change means dumping both the D’s and R’s and going w 3rd, 4th, and 5th parties.

Will you back up your words w actions?

His Contract with America gave conservatives a voice, but did so by doing away with bipartisan compromise and consensus.

Hard to believe it now, but in the Reagan years, Tip O’ Neill and Reagan were friends and golfing partners when business hours were over.

The most amusing thing about Gingrich is that he wants Republicans to kick Bush to the curb because of a disasterous war, but it was Gingrich who helped Rumsfeld come up with the war plan over at DOD.

He is long on wind and ego but short on loyalty and scruples, lol.