oldroy Loc: Western Kansas (No longer in hiding)

So, according to your sources, Clinton did that budget on his own? You do need to do some extra-curricular reading.

jonhatfield Loc: Green Bay, WI

The net effect of Reaganomics plus the Bush re-embrace with further tax cuts is that the 1% now owns 50% of the economy instead of the 25% in 1980. Supposedly--hard to tell how reliable talking points are. That will continue until tax rates on income above certain amounts and inheritances above a certain amount balance things out a little. Unfortunately little prospect of agreement on that or on reduced COLA (somewhat inflated) for social security to balance power and budget...but guess which party is motivated to make the federal government and budget work and which party has deliberately sabotaged the budget and taxes so its agenda could be achieved? I just wish the needed compromises to make things work for our time could be agreed upon and then I could consider v****g for the GOP again without fear they in power would destroy America. I trusted Reagan in geopolitics and both Bushes, but I think they were a disaster for our national finances. I want our national finances put in some order and focus put on national infrastructure.

lpnmajor Loc: Arkansas

What happens when a balanced budget is presented? Partisan politics gets a hold of it. Special interests get their slice, pork barreling gets it's share, "protected" Dept.'s get their reductions reversed, and now - we have a deficit. That means more borrowing to add to the debt load. As long as each Politician is allowed to add things to bills, in return for their v**e, there can never be a balanced budget. The worst thing that happened was dropping the line item veto. That stops the President from cutting these pork barrel items.

oldroy Loc: Western Kansas (No longer in hiding)

You have read some parts of Obama's suggested budgets, I see. Why doesn't he get even a v**e or two from a Democrat.

The line item veto was never provided from the Constitution and so it couldn't have been dropped.

saveamerica Loc: Texas

Oldroy, I don't know how old you are but, I remember the Carter years like yesterday. Thank God, we elected Ronald Reagan, he was the right man at the time and how great it was with him as President, the younger people on this site don't understand how good we had it under Reagan. There was more jobs than workers, unemployment was 2%, companies were paying above minimum wage for workers. The economy has never been the same.

saveamerica Loc: Texas

Sorry about your bad luck.

oldroy Loc: Western Kansas (No longer in hiding)

I am 81 and didn't like Reagan, at the time, but I had just switched from being a Democrat in 1972 and had to accept him because Carter ran agains him the first time. I do think that times were much better back then than now but not just because of him, mostly because socialists weren't in control of our government like they are now.

oldroy Loc: Western Kansas (No longer in hiding)

So you missed the word Reagan said could do the most for our financial situation? Let me repeat the one word answer. NO. We need to learn how to say the word.