[aruanan]

The Bureau of the Public Debt says the budget hasn't been balanced since 1957.

If you're considering "balancing the budget" to mean that all expenses are paid and there are no outstanding debts, including the national debt or that expenditures exactly matched income, maybe. But there were those years between 1997 and 2001 when there was no deficit spending and revenue exceeded expenditures, which is another way of saying balanced.

[DuncanWaring]

If revenue exceeded spending, why did the debt increase?