Carrie S. Carrie, your question about legislative action regarding the use of budget surpluses to pay off the national debt is right on target. We are at a point, assuming that the economic predictions hold, that we could drastically reduce the national debt. But just in the past few days as Congress attempts to pass the final appropriations measures, all types of new expenditures have been added. Legislators think this will help them get reelected. Presidents are concerned about their parties' electoral prospects.
Interest groups get into the act.
And the individual citizen often gets into this process by demanding tax cuts or subsidies. What is interesting at this point is that the majority of Americans prefer debt reduction over tax cuts.