Wednesday, May 31, 2023

1993 Deficit Reduction Plan without a Single Republican Vote.

 September 1993


The Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1993 has made a substantial dent in the annual budget deficits and in the accumulation of federal debt. Last winter, CBO projected that the deficit would grow from $290 billion to $360 billion over the 1992-1998 period, and that debt held by the public would swell from 51 percent to 62 percent of GDP. Now, the deficit is projected to fall to $200 billion over those years, and the debt is expected to reach only 55 percent of GDP.

...The Budget Enforcement Act of 1990 capped discretionary budget authority and outlays through fiscal year 1995, and the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1993 extended the caps through 1998. Under these caps, nominal discretionary outlays in 1998 would be no higher than in 1993; in real terms, discretionary outlays would be cut by 14 percent over this period.


https://www.cbo.gov/sites/default/f...3-1994/reports/09-1993-outlookentirerpt_0.pdf

THAT'S PAY-GO (NO INCREASE IN SPENDING WITHOUT CUTS OR REVENUES) THE GOP GOT RID OF UNDER DUBYA AND DONNIE!!!!

PAYGO, which stands for “pay as you go,” is a budget rule requiring that tax cuts and mandatory spending increases must be offset (i.e., “paid for”) by tax increases or cuts in mandatory spending.



To Establish Fiscal Discipline, President Clinton:

  • Enacted the 1993 Deficit Reduction Plan without a Single Republican Vote.
The plan included more than $500 billion in deficit reduction.

"The deficit has come down, and I give the Clinton Administration and President Clinton himself a lot of credit for that. [He] did something about it, fast. And I think we are seeing some benefits."
— Paul Volcker, Federal Reserve Board Chairman (1979-1987), in Audacity, Fall 1994

"Clinton's 1993 budget cuts, which reduced projected red ink by more than $400 billion over five years, sparked a major drop in interest rates that helped boost investment in all the equipment and systems that brought forth the New Age economy of technological innovation and rising productivity."
— Business Week, May 19, 1997

No, the true heroes of deficit reduction were, first, President Clinton, whose 1993 budget—passed without a single Republican vote—raised taxes on the wealthy and dramatically altered the nation’s fiscal path, and second, a steadily improving economy. Those two factors, and particularly the interaction between them, account for virtually the entire fiscal improvement. Contrary to the Gingrich assertion, legislation passed by the Republican-led Congress of 1995 through 1997 combined to actually worsen the fiscal situation—albeit slightly.

...OBRA, which mainly raised taxes on wealthy people but also raised the gas tax, extended limits on discretionary spending and cut back on some mandatory spending, was signed into law on August 10, 1993. Just five months prior, the Congressional Budget Office projected a 1998 deficit of $360 billion. One month after the bill passed, the CBO’s new estimate of the 1988 deficit was down to $200 billion. The CBO explained the dramatic improvement this way: “For the first time in two and one-half years, the deficit projections have taken a decided turn for the better… The reconciliation act deserves most of the credit for the improvement over the long run.” Indeed, of the $160 billion improvement from March to September of that year, CBO directly credited OBRA with $143 billion. In fact, OBRA turns out to have been the single largest contributor to the 1998 surplus.

https://www.americanprogress.org/article/not-so-fast-newt/

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