>Nathan, Nathan, Nathan . . .
>. . .
>The 1993 Budget Act did increase social spending quite significantly in the
>following years. It was the GOP takeover of Congress that nipped those
>increases.
> >>
>
>Federal outlays, not including defense and net interest
>payments, as percent of GDP:
>
>1988: 12.57% (Reagan's last year in office)
>1992: 14.39% (Bush's last year in office)
>1993: 14.22%
>1994: 14.31%
>1999: 13.95%
>2000: 14.02% (Clinton budget proposal)
...and taking that out a bit further:
2001 13.82%
2002 13.48%
2003 13.60%
2004 13.61%
And that's what Clinton was asking for, not what Congress would give him. And before Nathan says that he asked knowing what Congress would give him, remember Reagan's budgets? Always delivered "dead on arrival," as the saying went. But he asked for what he wanted.
Stripping out a few more items (SS because, short of benefit cuts, it's on fiscal autopilot, and Medicare because it's hard to differentiate services from pure medical inflation, and because it's hard to decide how much should be considered a benefit enjoyed by patients and how much should be considered income for doctors and drugmakers):
less interest, Social Security, Medicare, and military
1988 6.54%
1992 7.77%
1993 7.48%
1994 7.49%
1999 7.15%
2000 7.15%
2001 6.89%
2002 6.59%
2003 6.62%
2004 6.61%
point change 1988-1992 +1.23% 1992-1995 -0.60% 1995-2000 -0.01% 1992-2004 -1.16%
Doug