Calif Bill wrote:

Yes, this administration is spending too much.

Agreed.

But since there was a
recession starting when this administration took office, and we had a major
terror attack, I would say that the national debt should go up some.

Agreed again, but only in basic principle. The debt undertaken by the current
gov't is not in any way for the benefit of us citizens.

...But the one good thing about that
time was the Newt Gingrich "Contract With America" and the new members
(Republican) of Congress stopped the over spending for at least 2 years.

You need a memory recharge. Not one single provision of the "Contract With
America" was ever fulfilled. Not one... it was all a big lie.


The rest of the balanced budget was smoke and mirrors.

As compared to the "Contract With America"? Yeah sure.

Gov't debt went down, gov't income went up. The same accounting methods used to
calculate the current deficit shows the budget balanced then. Is either 100%
correct? Why worry about it, the gov't budget is not like balancing a checkbook.
If you don't believe the ends actually met, then you still can't deny that they
were a lot closer together. And yeah, the Republican Congress had a lot to do
with it....


The new Medicare
Bill is theft in the extreme from our children and grandchildren.

I don't have any children, but I agree in principle.

I cannot understand how an administration that labels itself "conservative" can
support these kinds of shenanigans.

DSK