After 8 years inaction, must act based on rosy forecast

LIEBERMAN: We’re not spending any more than is projected by the experts. In fact, unlike our opponents, we’re setting aside $300 billion in a reserve fund just in case those projections the nonpartisan experts make are not quite right. We understand that balancing the budget, keeping America out of debt is the way to keep interest rates down and the economy growing.

CHENEY: With respect to the surplus, we’ve got to make some kind of forecast. We can’t make 12 month decisions in this business. We’re talking about the kinds of fundamental changes in programs and government that are going to affect people’s lives for the next 25 or 30 years. And one of the difficulties we have is that for the last eight years, we ignored a lot these problems. We haven’t moved aggressively on Social Security. There are important issues out there that need to be resolved, and it’s important for us to get on with that business.

Give responsible tax relief by returning 5% of surplus

A: We take half of the projected surplus and set it aside for Social Security, over $2.4 trillion. We take roughly a fourth of it for other urgent priorities, such as Medicare reform and education, and we take roughly one-fourth of it and return it in the form of a tax cut. The Senate Budget Committee has totaled up all the promises that Vice President Gore has made, and they total $900 billion above the projected surplus. The fact is that the program that we put together we think is very responsible. Over the next 10 years we’ll collect roughly $25 trillion in revenue. We want to take about 5% of that and return that to the American taxpayer. The average American family is paying about 40% in federal, state and local taxes. We think it is appropriate to return to the American people so that they can make choices themselves in how that money ought to be spent, whether they want to spend it on education or on retirement or on paying their bills.

Increase domestic energy production without damage to land

CHENEY: We are in trouble because the administration has not addressed these issues. We have the prospects of brownouts in California. We have a potential home heating oil crisis in the Northeast. We’ve got gasoline prices rising. For years, the administration has talked about reducing our dependence on foreign sources of oil, but they haven’t done it. We’ve got the lowest rate of domestic production of oil now in 46 years. Our imports are at an all-time record high. That means we’re more subject to fluctuations in price. We don’t have the refinery capacity. We haven’t built a new refinery in this country for over 10 years. We have a serious, long-term problem of our growing dependence on foreign sources of energy. That will always be the case, but we ought to be able to shift the trend and begin to move it in the right direction. We think we can do it in an environmentally sound manner.

In 1980s, US needed limited spending for deficit & Cold War

Cheney credited Reagan with ending the Cold War, which he said led to the end of deficits. He suggested that Clinton deserves little credit for the good economic times; saying his appointment of Alan Greenspan was his only accomplishment. “I don’t think the economy suddenly turned around when Clinton and Gore arrived in Washington,” he said.

Budget surplus softens opposition to spending

Supported Balanced Budget Amendment

Where he stands:
• opposed the Equal Rights Amendment
• anti-abortion rights
• supported prayer in schools
• supported balanced budget amendment

Investment in defense brings economic growth

Don’t fund domestic priorities by cutting defense

Co-sponsored numerous bills for balancing the budget

Cheney co-sponsored the following bills in Congress:
• H.J.RES.147 (1984):A joint resolution proposing an amendment to the Constitution to require that congressional resolutions setting forth levels of total budget outlays and Federal revenues must be agreed to by two-thirds vote of both Houses of the Congress if the level of outlays exceeds the level of revenues.
• H.R.5000 (1984) and H.R.1481 (1986):A bill to authorize the President, on a limited basis, to impound funds made available for the fiscal year when economic conditions necessitate reductions in the Federal deficit.
• H.R.3520 (1986):A bill to require a graduated reduction of the Federal budget deficit, to balance the budget, to establish emergency procedures to avoid deficit overages.
• H.J.RES.321 (1988):A joint resolution proposing an amendment to the Constitution to provide for a balanced budget for the United States Government and for greater accountability in the enactment of tax legislation.

Supported biennial budgeting for deficit reduction

Cheney co-sponsored the following bills in Congress:
• H.R.748 (1986):A bill to amend the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 to provide for a two-year (biennial) budgeting cycle, and for other purposes.
• H.J.RES.404 (1984):A joint resolution proposing an amendment to the Constitution of the United States allowing an item veto in appropriations bills.
• H.J.RES.243 (1984):A joint resolution proposing an amendment to the Constitution relating to Federal budget procedures.