By Dennis M. Mitchell, QEP, CPA

If you are like most Americans, you likely believe there was a federal surplus under President Clinton. I could agree with you, but then we’d both be wrong. There never was a surplus. It did not exist - except in the deceptions proclaimed by both democrats and republicans. There was a slight lessening of obscene (relative) spending during those years; but any surplus considered was instead, a fairy tale. It never happened. What both sides of the aisle called a surplus is the equivalent of you paying all of your bills one month by credit card instead of a check out of your bank. At the end of the month, you told the world you had a lot of extra money in the bank. You had more cash but your liabilities were still out there - with interest accruing ominously. In those years, the real debt went up just like with every president/congress since Andrew Jackson. It was hidden in “intergovernmental” funds and projections. We still spent (and continue to spend) more nationally than we received.

The big lie that both asses and elephants clung to was the projections. Projections of what would be coming due were based on absurd assumptions of a perfect world with joyous economic factors. It was the equivalent of your stockbroker calling you up and saying your recently purchased stock went up $2/share today, and you could expect it to go up $2 every day forever. Not even Bernie Madoff would have tried to sell that whopper. However, almost every federal level politician of that era gleefully and willingly lied to you about it.
So today republicans stand silent, sheepishly staring down at the floor, as the scurrilous Bill Clinton campaigns for Obama bragging about his fictitious surplus. Bill has the last laugh because he, being a world class con-artist, knew their greed to take credit for the outrageous lie of a surplus would come back to bite them on the rear ends.

Republicans are no match for democrats when it comes to bald-faced lying. Republicans are ill-suited to compete with voter fraud, for democrats own that dishonest action. Republicans are inept at deception of the ignorant compared to the democrats skillful maneuvering.
It’s a pity though, that republicans get a little shaky on the truth. For if they stuck to the truth, followed through on duties promised, and embraced the fact that our country was built on “individual greatness,” we could all – equally - expect honest changes towards a healthy good.

Dennis Mitchell is certified as a Qualified Environmental Professional (QEP) by the Institute of Professional Environmental Practice (IPEP) and is presently the chair of Ethics Committee for IPEP. He was a recipient of the Lifetime Honorary Award from the International Air & Waste Management Association. He has been a member of Louisiana Society of CPA’s since 1985 and retired from Troy University where he taught both federal taxation and sciences for many years.