Showing restraint Showing restraint Editorial Board Iowa State Daily For the first time since 1969, the United States Government will have a budget surplus. During his State of the Union address on Jan. 21, Clinton proposed to use the surplus to bail out Social Security's dwindling funds and spend 100 percent of the surplus on it. The dwindling funds are a major concern to Baby Boomers and retirees all around the country. Now that the government actually has money to spend, Congressional Republicans would like to give working Americans a tax cut instead of Clinton's plan for saving Social Security. It seems clear that those Republicans in favor of the tax cut are planning for their elections this fall and not for the long-term good of the country.
Tax cuts are always a nice little touch around election time, and they go over big with most voters.
Politicians commonly use promises to get votes. Republicans in Congress are simply using this to buy voters by appealing to their greed and showing feigned concern for their pocketbooks. President Clinton is headed on the right track with his plan for the budget surplus. For once, the government has money to solve problems that face this country's future. Tax cuts would not let us do that.