[kabar]

Republicans under Newt did it in just two. They took power '95, and FY 98 was balanced. Then and had four consecutive balanced budgets leaving a surplus when W came to power in a recession.

They really weren't balanced if you took out the SS surplus. The national debt went up every year under Clinton.

[newzjunkey]

Paying down the debt is separate from having any budget surplus. You can run a budget surplus and increase debt because of accumulated interest.

My point is those individual budgets were as balanced as we've seen in forever or perhaps likely to see given DC culture and it was done in a very short timespan, not some decade long fantasy. Hard choices now, not 5 new congresses from now.

[Bernard]

They really weren't balanced if you took out the SS surplus. The national debt went up every year under Clinton.

That's an important and simple message that needs to be repeated often enough that everybody understands it. The last time the national debt decreased was Eisenhower's last year as President - the year ending December 31, 1960.

EISENHOWER WAS PRESIDENT THE LAST TIME THE NATIONAL DEBT DECREASED! That's while the "Happy Days" the TV show was named after were actually happening. A simple message that should be repeated over and over and over...