[Tublecane]

“The spendthrift U.S. Congress has been ‘out of money’ since 1776.”

A) There was no U.S. Congress (nor any U.S.) in 1776.

B) I believe the budget was balanced (for the last time) in the Jackson administration.

[angkor]

>>> A) There was no U.S. Congress (nor any U.S.) in 1776. <<<<

You know what I meant.

And it is equally disingenuous to pretend that the Founders and the Continental Congress did not begin assuming debt almost immediately after July 1776.

By 1777/1778 many loans were in place to finance the war against England.

[devere]

“B) I believe the budget was balanced (for the last time) in the Jackson administration.”

Nope. Clinton in 2000.

http://archives.cnn.com/2000/ALLPOLITICS/stories/09/27/clinton.surplus/