But wait. They've been yakking all these years about the DEBT. That's a different matter from the deficit. What I think is most interesting here, a fact that all conservatives I've talked with over these past years have REFUSED to respond to, is that Republicans have an actual, RECENT history of how they respond to having a federal budget that is in the black and in the process of paying down the debts of past deficits.
They chose, in 2001, to PISS IT AWAY. That's right: they cut the government's income (temporarily, they claimed), and sent money to millions of people, saying the Clinton had arranged to "over-charge" the people for the functioning of the federal government. The debt didn't worry them then, even though it was trillions of dollars. They PREFERRED to create and maintain deficit spending. They pressured Democrats (spineless bastards that they were) to sign on to going back to deficits and growing debt.
Of course, the start of the Bush War Era didn't help matters. They even chose to start a war with no real reason... adding to the debt problem and wasting and ruining thousands and thousands of Americans' lives.
THAT is their track record when it comes to being in possession of a balanced budget. EVEN IF the "Tea Party" gets its way to destroy the federal government as we know it today, recent history indicates that the effort will be wasted. For those readers who are planning to vote Republican in this election, be sure to keep this in mind as you vote. Republicans have consistently chosen over the past 30 years to work to destroy our government from the inside. There's no reason to think they might choose differently, should they be given absolute power in Washington.
