[quote=jeeman]The only reason we had a surplus in 1998-2000 was because of massive capital gains tax revenues from the stock market bubble. When this went away, the deficits returned. Bush cut tax *rates*, but if you look at tax *revenue* charts, the revenues climbed after the rate cuts.[/quote]
This is a widely-held belief (that a surplus existed), but it’s not true.
A change in accounting lumped Social Security contributions into the government’s “income” category. It was a dishonest change and was done for obvious political reasons. There was in fact a substantial (though laughably low by 2010 standards) deficit throughout that period.
