Arne H. Carlson: Return to the day of budget balance

An unending recklessness in government spending is masquerading as conservatism.

Arne H. Carlson
Minneapolis StarTribune

Shortly after becoming vice president, Dick Cheney cast aside the normal opposition of Republicans to deficits and instead suggested that deficit spending is of little concern, particularly when it comes to elections. Sadly, the repercussions of this radical shift have not only thrown the Republican Party into a state of confusion but have caused our nation irreparable damage both in terms of our economy as well as our national security.

Over a period of six years we have gone from a nation that was able to balance its budget on a bipartisan basis, as a result of agreements between President Bill Clinton and House Speaker Newt Gingrich, to a nation that is spending more than $760 billion annually beyond its capacity to pay.

What should be understood here is that the federal government has its own rather unique accounting system which, if used by corporations or states, would be deemed illegal. Fortunately, the secretary of the Treasury has translated the numbers into the accrual system of accounting that takes into account future obligations, and the results have become more startling.

In his "2005 Financial Report of the U.S. Government," Secretary John Snow, a Bush appointee, indicates that in fiscal years 1999 and 2000 the government's "total revenue exceeded its net cost and resulted in net operating revenue of $101.3 billion and $39.6 billion for these years, respectively."

In other words, we were generating surpluses.

(The rest is here.)