sc94597 on 14 May 2016
| Final-Fan said: One thing I just noticed: "Sorry, the last five presidents have done the same thing. Increased the national debt, restricted rights, started wars." Do you realize you just said the national debt increased on Clinton's watch? |
Yes, I used the word debt, not deficit. Depending on the accounting measurements you use and the type of debt we're talking about it slightly increased to moderately increased. Clinton did at least bring the deficit to nearly zero for many years, and then Bush increased it again.
http://www.factcheck.org/2008/02/the-budget-and-deficit-under-clinton/
http://finance.townhall.com/columnists/craigsteiner/2011/08/22/the_clinton_surplus_myth
| Fiscal Year |
Year Ending |
National Debt | Deficit |
| FY1993 | 09/30/1993 | $4.411488 trillion | |
| FY1994 | 09/30/1994 | $4.692749 trillion | $281.26 billion |
| FY1995 | 09/29/1995 | $4.973982 trillion | $281.23 billion |
| FY1996 | 09/30/1996 | $5.224810 trillion | $250.83 billion |
| FY1997 | 09/30/1997 | $5.413146 trillion | $188.34 billion |
| FY1998 | 09/30/1998 | $5.526193 trillion | $113.05 billion |
| FY1999 | 09/30/1999 | $5.656270 trillion | $130.08 billion |
| FY2000 | 09/29/2000 | $5.674178 trillion | $17.91 billion |
| FY2001 | 09/28/2001 | $5.807463 trillion | $133.29 billion |
| Fiscal Year |
End Date |
Claimed Surplus |
Public Debt |
Intra-gov Holdings |
Total National Debt |
| FY1997 | 09/30/1997 | $3.789667T | $1.623478T | $5.413146T | |
| FY1998 | 09/30/1998 | $69.2B | $3.733864T  $55.8B |
$1.792328T  $168.9B |
$5.526193T $113B |
| FY1999 | 09/30/1999 | $122.7B | $3.636104T $97.8B |
$2.020166T $227.8B |
$5.656270T $130.1B |
| FY2000 | 09/29/2000 | $230.0B | $3.405303T $230.8B |
$2.268874T $248.7B |
$5.674178T $17.9B |
| FY2001 | 09/28/2001 | $3.339310T $66.0B |
$2.468153T $199.3B |
$5.807463T $133.3B |
edit:
http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2010/sep/23/bill-clinton/bill-clinton-says-his-administration-paid-down-deb/
This also explains it well.
