Federal Budget for 2001

             This country has been dealing with a budget deficit for many years now. In an attempt to change this, on June 29, Congress voted in favor of HConRes67 that called for a 7-year plan to balance the Federal Budget by the year 2001. This would be done by incorporating $894 billion in spending cuts by 2002, with a projected 7-year tax cut of $245 billion. If this plan were implemented, in the year 2002, the U.S. Government would have the first balanced budget since 1969. Current budget plans are dependent on somewhat unrealistic predictions of avoiding such catastrophes as recession, national disasters, etc., and include minor loopholes. History has shown that every budget agreement that has failed was too loose. One might remember the Gramm-Rudman-Hollings bill that attempted to balance the budget, but left too many exemptions, and was finally abandoned in 1990.

             So after a pain-staking trial for GOP Republicans to create, promote, and pass their budget, as promised on campaign trail 94, Clinton rejected the very bill he demanded. This essentially brought the federal budget back to square one. Clinton thought such a demand on Republicans to produce a budget would produce inner-party quarrels and cause the GOP to implode. Instead, they produced a fiscal budget that passed both houses of Congress, only to be deadlocked by a stubborn Democratic President Clinton. Meanwhile, Clinton bounced back with a CBO scored plan with lighter, less risky cuts to politically .

             sensitive areas like entitlements. Clinton"s plan also saved dollars for education and did not include a tax increase, but most cuts would not take effect until he is out of office, in the year 2001. Although Clinton is sometimes criticized for producing a stalemate in budget talks, the White House points out that the debt has gone down since Clinton took office, with unemployment also falling. Republicans are quick to state that Clinton originally increased taxes in 1993 and cut defense programs, but his overall plan was for an increasing budget without deficit reduction.

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