Just incase people forgot: Clinton raised taxes and we saw a surplus.

[Paradoxical]

http://www.cbo.gov/budget/data/historical.pdf

For 4 brief years during the late 90s and early millenium, we actually began paying back our debt. That's a feat surrounded by more than 3 decades of deficit building.



1970 192.8 195.6 -8.7 5.9 n.a. -2.8 283.2
1971 187.1 210.2 -26.1 3.0 n.a. -23.0 303.0
1972 207.3 230.7 -26.1 3.1 -0.4 -23.4 322.4
1973 230.8 245.7 -15.2 0.5 -0.2 -14.9 340.9
1974 263.2 269.4 -7.2 1.8 -0.8 -6.1 343.7
1975 279.1 332.3 -54.1 2.0 -1.1 -53.2 394.7
1976 298.1 371.8 -69.4 -3.2 -1.1 -73.7 477.4
1977 355.6 409.2 -49.9 -3.9 0.2 -53.7 549.1
1978 399.6 458.7 -55.4 -4.3 0.5 -59.2 607.1
1979 463.3 504.0 -39.6 -2.0 0.9 -40.7 640.3
1980 517.1 590.9 -73.1 -1.1 0.4 -73.8 711.9
1981 599.3 678.2 -73.9 -5.0 -0.1 -79.0 789.4
1982 617.8 745.7 -120.6 -7.9 0.6 -128.0 924.6
1983 600.6 808.4 -207.7 0.2 -0.3 -207.8 1,137.3
1984 666.5 851.9 -185.3 0.3 -0.4 -185.4 1,307.0
1985 734.1 946.4 -221.5 9.4 -0.1 -212.3 1,507.3
1986 769.2 990.4 -237.9 16.7 * -221.2 1,740.6
1987 854.4 1,004.1 -168.4 19.6 -0.9 -149.7 1,889.8
1988 909.3 1,064.5 -192.3 38.8 -1.7 -155.2 2,051.6
1989 991.2 1,143.8 -205.4 52.4 0.3 -152.6 2,190.7
1990 1,032.1 1,253.1 -277.6 58.2 -1.6 -221.0 2,411.6
1991 1,055.1 1,324.3 -321.4 53.5 -1.3 -269.2 2,689.0
1992 1,091.3 1,381.6 -340.4 50.7 -0.7 -290.3 2,999.7
1993 1,154.5 1,409.5 -300.4 46.8 -1.4 -255.1 3,248.4
1994 1,258.7 1,461.9 -258.8 56.8 -1.1 -203.2 3,433.1
1995 1,351.9 1,515.9 -226.4 60.4 2.0 -164.0 3,604.4
1996 1,453.2 1,560.6 -174.0 66.4 0.2 -107.4 3,734.1
1997 1,579.4 1,601.3 -103.2 81.3 * -21.9 3,772.

1998 1,722.0 1,652.7 -29.9 99.4 -0.2 69.3 3,721.1
1999 1,827.6 1,702.0 1.9 124.7 -1.0 125.6 3,632.4
2000 2,025.5 1,789.2 86.4 151.8 -2.0 236.2 3,409.8
2001 1,991.4 1,863.2 -32.4 163.0 -2.3 128.2 3,319.

Total surplus from 1998 through 2001: $559.3 billion

2002 1,853.4 2,011.2 -317.4 159.0 0.7 -157.8 3,540.4
2003 1,782.5 2,160.1 -538.4 155.6 5.2 -377.6 3,913.4
2004 1,880.3 2,293.0 -568.0 151.1 4.1 -412.7 4,295.5
2005 2,153.9 2,472.2 -493.6 173.5 1.8 -318.3 4,592.2
2006 2,407.3 2,655.4 -434.5 185.2 1.1 -248.2 4,829.0
2007 2,568.2 2,728.9 -342.2 186.5 -5.1 -160.7 5,035.

[Trajan]

1. He increased taxes on the rich ...

Slightly lowered them for middle class families ....

What's more important - UNIONIZED workforces existed to higher percentages, and the economy hummed like a bass guitar on eleven ....

The whole conservative narrative is a lie .... Yet people buy into it .... Stupid people ....

[dkf]

2. That is why we need to get back to ALL the Clinton rates.

Not just for the top. That isn't enough.