running without funds, the leaders of both parties of Congress are

spending less and less time searching for a compromise to balance the

budget, and more and more time deciding how to use it to their

advantage on the campaign trail. Meanwhile money is easily borrowed to

pay for government overhead. 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 2002 (Hager 1899). 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

There is doubt by citizens that a balanced budget will become

reality. A recent Gallop Poll from January, 1996 showed the budget as

the #1 concern among taxpayers, but 4/5 of those interviewed said they

doubt the GOP will do the job (Holding 14). Meanwhile, an ABC poll

from November reported that over 70% of those polled disapprove of the

current performance by Congress, and most blamed politicians for

reach its breaking point. If that's not enough to scare a taxpayer, by

yearly, instead of the current 10%. While both parties agree on

include minor loopholes. History has shown that every budget agreement

premium hikes for beneficiaries, this is a touchy subject for the 38.1

Smaller cuts included $11 billion in student loan reductions, $9.3

42). United States Treasury Department studies say the bottom 1/5

the GOP struck down immediately for not cutting taxes enough and

make cuts in. Overall, the difference between the two parties budget

responsibility for reform gets left wide open to criticism. Although

is the argument that the poor are being left out of savings. According

hands while the federal debt keeps going up and up and up into the

entitlements based on need. The government already has reduced Social

"interest rates come down, the economy picks up - we will rebound,"

1973 and have gone down ever since. If the economy grew as fast as it

Some common words found in the essay are:
Social Security, Congress Hosansky, Rau M-1, Defending Deficits, Treasury Department, White House, Federal Government, Concord Coalition, Congress Clinton, Budget Clinton's, gop plan, rau m-1, government spending, discretionary spending, social security, family income, henderson 60, clinton's budget, balance budget, reform entitlements, clinton sometimes criticized, 1/5 income families, retirement 65 70,
Approximate Word count = 2799
Approximate Pages = 11 (250 words per page double spaced)