Lets play your game, this time with Clinton. The first budget Bush was responsible for began 1 Oct 2001. So for the first nine months of 2001 it's on Clinton but we have to use it all against him according to the rules you use with Obama. The deficit in 2001 was 133.29 billion dollars. The defiict in 1999 was 130.08 billion dollars. Doesn't seem like it slowed much to me. In fact if based against 2000 its on a big upswing. So once again, just where was this "surplus"? Good thing you think very highly of yourself and your phony liberal ideas because people capable of thought won't.
Bring some real facts to the table next time junior. Not just numbers being twisted to gather support from people incapable of thought.
Hey, thanks for using facts. Now if we could just get you to use real (verifiable) facts.
Where did you get your numbers as they do not jive with table 1.1 of the US Budget (
http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/budget/Historicals or see below)? I would love to indulge you in your question, but not your fantasies. Let's see a link and settle on the real numbers so that we can actually have a discussion.
Note per the table below, 2001 had an on-budget deficit of $32B; but the total budget showed a surplus of $128B. In 1999, we had a surplus on-budget and in total. The 2001 on-budget deficit was 100% attributable to a revenue shortfall of a greater amount (see tax collection column), largely caused by the tech bubble crash rather than specific policies of the President.
Regardless, the discussion of whether we had a small deficit or small surplus is moot. Either way our budget had negligible surplus or modest, manageable deficits. In essence, they were the same thing: the budget was balanced when the tenant at 1600 Pennsylvania changed. In fact, the prevailing wisdom and political discussion at the time was about how to spend the forecast surpluses.
Happy to discuss you issue, but please either accept the real numbers or produce some support for yours. I refuse to debate your impressions, which without verifiable numbers is all you have brought to the table.
Notwithstanding anything you might come up with to refute the starting point as "balanced budget", the ending point (the day the George turned the keys to 1600 Pennsylvania to Barack) was huge deficits. Hard to blame anyone but George for that mess.
Looking forward to your response, champ.