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[quote user="schlimm"] And the only President who in recent times "got it" was Bill Clinton.  As the economy improved, he had budget surpluses; it only took his non-Keynsian successor one year to return to deficits.  [/quote] The Federal Government had a surplus (revenues exceeded expenditures) in 1998, 1999, 2000 and 2001.  It was $69 billion (rounded) in 1998, $126 billion in 1999, $236 billion in 2000, and $128 billion in 2001.  The surplus as a per cent of revenues was 4% in 1998, 7% in 1999, 12% in 2000, and 6% in 2001. The operating budget, which excludes the Social Security and the Medicare Trust funds, as well as several smaller trust funds, had a surplus only in 1999 and 2000.  For 1998 and 2001 it was in the red.  The surplus in 99 and 00 is mostly attributable to the Social Security Surplus, i.e. Social Security has collected more in premiums than it has laid out in benefits since approximately 1984.  However, this changed in 2010.   Expenditure data for the U.S. Government is available at the Office of Management and Budget.  It goes back to 1789, although before 1900 it is a bit sketchy.
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