We balanced the budget and paid off $450 billion in publicly held debt in 1998, 1999, 2000, and 2001. Those were the first balanced budgets since 1969. It's hard to remember now, but, the week before 9/11 the Congress was debating what to do with a budget surplus. Then the world changed. We were recovering from a national emergency, fighting a war and in an economic slowdown all at once.
Our priorities changed... |