Clinton's FY 1997 Budget: The Era of Big Government Lives On

Publication Date: September 2002

Publisher: Heritage Foundation (Washington, D.C.)

Author(s): Scott A. Hodge

Research Area: Banking and finance

Keywords: Budget

Type: Report

Abstract:

Just weeks after telling the nation, in this year’s State of the Union address, that the “era of big government is over,” Bill Clinton indicated that the obituary notice was somewhat premature when he delivered his 20-page FY 1997 budget to Congress. In contrast to the Balanced Budget Act of 1995 (BBA), which he vetoed last fall, the latest Clinton budget would mean $1,927 in higher taxes and $3,155 in higher spending for every household in America over the next seven years. This is the eighth budget plan Clinton has delivered to Congress in a year; and, except for the FY 1996 budget submitted last February (which called for $200 billion deficits through the end of the decade), each has been short on specifics and long on promises.