Poll - What Should Americans do with the $70 billion surplus?

For the first time in 30 years, the American budget this year will show a surplus, with the American government taking in $70 billion more than it spends.

If you want to know why America has the first financial surplus in 30 years, you are looking at it! Improvements brought about by computers and the Internet have increased productivity and efficiency and have improved the economy.

However, America still has a national debt of $1.1 trillion. America has been in debt for nearly one hundred years. America has frequently tried to pay off that debt, but usually a national emergency, such as hot or cold war or the Great Depression, has prevented it from doing so. The 1969 surplus was a one-year aberration. America has spent more than it took in almost every other year since at least the 1920s.

If America continues with the present tax and spending structure, the entire $1.1 trillion in debt could be paid off in 15 years. With projected rates of growth, the final payoff could come within 9 years or even less, assuming that no new emergency arises.

However, the mad dog lunatic Republicans led by Newt Gingrich say that this entire $70 billion should be given back to the American people in the form of a tax cut. There are also left wing liberals who say that this is a "dividend" which should be used by increased spending on social welfare programs. Clinton says that he wants the money set aside for possible future Social Security and emergency programs, such as the War in Bosnia.

Here is a poll: Should the $70 billion surplus be used by giving a tax break to the long suffering American people, should it be spent, primarily on social welfare programs and national defense, or should the money be banked and used to reduce and finally to pay off the debt?

Do you believe that the $70 billion surplus should be used:

1. By reducing taxes and giving a tax break to the long suffering American people?

2. By increased federal spending on national defense and social welfare programs?

3. By keeping it in the bank and using it to pay the debts of America while saving it for a future national emergency?

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