[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 114 (Wednesday, September 2, 1998)]
[Senate]
[Pages S9888-S9889]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                           TRUTH IN BUDGETING

 Mr. HOLLINGS. Mr. President, there has been quite a bit of 
discussion in Washington recently about the need to tell the truth. 
Well, I have always believed people should tell the truth--in private 
and in public. That is why I have long opposed the biggest lie, the 
biggest fraud in this town--the so-called federal budget surplus. The 
truth is there is no surplus. We continue to borrow money from federal 
trust funds--mainly Social Security--to mask the budget deficit. 
Meanwhile, the national debt skyrockets.
  I rise today, Mr. President, to draw the Senate's attention to an 
editorial which appeared in the Sunday, August 30, 1998 edition of the 
Spartanburg Herald-Journal, published in Spartanburg, SC. This 
editorial points out the fraudulent nature of the budget surplus and 
criticizes Congress and the President for failing to tell the American 
people the truth about the budget. I quote the Herald-Journal: ``The 
truth can be seen in the national debt. That debt is continuing to grow 
and will keep growing over the next few years. Your budget is not 
balanced if you continue to go deeper and deeper into debt each year.''
  The editorial goes on to argue that our priority should be to balance 
the budget honestly and begin to reduce our national debt, rather than 
give in to the near-term appeal of further tax cuts--no matter how much 
merit the individual cuts may have. Mr. President, I have been beating 
this drum for years now. For the past two years, for example, I have 
offered budget resolutions to urge we stay the course to balance the 
budget and begin to reduce the debt.
  In fact, I support many of the proposed tax cuts. I have consistently 
supported making health insurance costs for the self-employed 100 
percent deductible, and I have voted to eliminate the marriage penalty 
three times in this year alone. But each time I have also voted to pay 
for these tax cuts, so that we stay on course to balance the budget. 
This should be our top priority. Only by reducing the national debt 
will we be able to whittle away at our whopping $363 billion in annual 
interest costs.
  I have been trying for years to get the media to expose this fraud 
Washington perpetrates on the American people. Yet many in the media--
people entrusted to report the truth--continue to report a surplus. I 
am glad to see that at least one newspaper in my home state of South 
Carolina has seen through this smoke screen. Mr. President, I ask that 
the entire editorial be printed in the Record.
  The editorial follows:

          [From the Spartanburg Herald-Journal, Aug. 30, 1998]

                         Right Cuts, Wrong Time


some lawmakers are proposing a set of worthy tax cuts at the wrong time

       Some Republicans in the U.S. House have devised a worthy 
     package of $78 billion in tax cuts. But this year is not the 
     time to cut taxes.
       Despite the rhetoric coming from Washington, there is no 
     budget surplus to spend--not on tax cuts, not on education, 
     not even on Social Security.
       Leaders of both parties in Congress and at the White House 
     are claiming that they have balanced the budget. But they 
     make their claim by not counting the money they are borrowing 
     from federal trust funds, including Social Security.
       The truth can be seen in the national debt. That debt is 
     continuing to grow and will

[[Page S9889]]

     keep growing over the next few years. Your budget is not 
     balanced if you continue to go deeper and deeper into debt 
     each year.
       Reducing that debt should be Congress' top priority. 
     Leaders in Washington have already wasted years of a boom 
     economy in which they could have been paying down the debt. 
     They should not waste any more time. They will not even be 
     able to claim a balanced budget if an economic downturn 
     upsets their budget forecasts.
       That's why the GOP tax cut plans should be rejected along 
     with President Clinton's spending plans.
       The tax cuts offered by House Republicans are even-handed 
     worthwhile cuts.
       The plan would raise the standard deduction for married 
     couples to eliminate the marriage penalty some couples incur 
     when they combine their incomes filing jointly.
       Under the GOP plan, self-employed taxpayers and employees 
     who have to pay for their own health insurance could deduct 
     100 percent of that cost.
       House Republicans also would let senior citizens earn more 
     money before they start losing Social Security benefits. And 
     they would restore tax credits for businesses for research 
     and development. These would be beneficial tax cuts. But they 
     shouldn't be the highest priority in this budget year.
       Tax cut advocates will point out that citizens pay too much 
     in taxes, that the government takes too big a bite out of its 
     citizens' incomes. And they are correct. The government is 
     too big and it takes too much of our money to support it.
       But long-term concerns demand paying down the national debt 
     first. If that debt isn't reduced soon, the chance for real 
     and lasting tax cuts will be postponed for decades.
       It is tempting in an election year to push for tax cuts. 
     But politicians should not push for short-term political 
     gains and taxpayers should not push for short-term financial 
     gains.
       Our national interest and our future demands that we reduce 
     the national debt before increasing spending or reducing 
     taxes.

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