OnTheIssuesLogo

Democratic Party on Budget & Economy

Party Platform


Restore the budget discipline of the 1990s

We believe in balanced budgets and paying down our national debt, while Republicans continue to put huge burdens on future generations by borrowing hundreds of billions of dollars from foreign nations. We want to restore the budget discipline of the 1990s that helped eliminate deficits and spur record economic growth.
Source: 2006 Democratic Party Congressional Promise Nov 1, 2006

Cut the deficit in half over the next four years

We will roll back the Bush tax cuts for those making more than $200,000. We will restore commonsense budget rules that this Administration has abandoned, like “Pay-As-You-Go” rules that require the government to pay for new initiatives. We will commit to living within tough budget caps-real and enforceable limits on what the government can spend. We are committed to cutting the deficit in half over the next four years.
Source: The Democratic Platform for America, p.25 Jul 10, 2004

Democrats reversed economic stagnation of previous years

Under Bush-Quayle, the economy was floundering. Bill Clinton and Al Gore were elected to turn it around. They knew the private sector is the engine of economic growth, but they also knew that government can make a difference. After a generation of stagnation, America has the lowest unemployment and fastest economic growth in more than 30 years. We have the lowest inflation rate in decades. More Americans own their home than ever before.
Source: Democratic National Platform Aug 15, 2000

Democrats must continue to lead Americans to prosperity

  1. We must continue the fiscal discipline that has been the hallmark of the past 8 years-paying down the debt & offering the right kind of tax cuts.
  2. We must use our prosperity to secure Social Security and Medicare.
  3. We must invest in the American people & their ability to innovate.
  4. We must continue to reinvent government so that it works better and costs less.
  5. We must open new markets to American products.
  6. We must reinforce the basic American bargain of rewarding hard work.
Source: Democratic National Platform Aug 15, 2000

G.O.P. creates debt, Dems create surpluses

Republicans talked about fiscal discipline while they quadrupled the debt. In 1992, Democrats promised to cut the deficit in half in four years. America has gone from the biggest deficits in history to the biggest surpluses in history. We must not go back. In 12 years of rule, Republicans quadrupled the national debt.
Source: Democratic National Platform Aug 15, 2000

Democrats will eliminate publicly held debt by 2012

Because of the Clinton-Gore Administration, a debt-free America is within reach. This would free businesses to invest and innovate, it would provide an ever more sturdy foundation for future economic growth, and it would create good jobs. That’s why Al Gore is determined to completely eliminate the publicly-held national debt by the year 2012.
Source: Democratic National Platform Aug 15, 2000

Policy should encourage home ownership & affordable housing

We have long defended the mortgage interest deduction and the Low Income Housing Tax Credit. We need to create a continuum of care for homeless people so that they get help in getting themselves off the streets. We must ensure that housing costs in thriving communities do not outpace the income of middle class families. We must expand the supply of life cycle housing. We must encourage the construction of affordable housing closer to places of work and to mass transit.
Source: Democratic National Platform Aug 15, 2000

Other candidates on Budget & Economy: Democratic Party on other issues:

Incoming Obama Administration:
Pres.Barack Obama
V.P.Joe Biden
State:Hillary Clinton
HHS:Tom Daschle
Staff:Rahm Emanuel
DHS:Janet Napolitano
DOC:Bill Richardson
DoD:Robert Gates
A.G.:Eric Holder
Treas.:Tim Geithner

Outgoing Bush Administration:
Pres.George W. Bush
V.P.Dick Cheney
State:Colin Powell
State:Condi Rice
EPA:Christie Whitman

Former Clinton Administration:
Pres.Bill Clinton
HUD:Andrew Cuomo
V.P.Al Gore
Labor:Robert Reich
A.G.:Janet Reno
Abortion
Budget/Economy
Civil Rights
Corporations
Crime
Drugs
Education
Energy/Oil
Environment
Families/Children
Foreign Policy
Free Trade
Govt. Reform
Gun Control
Health Care
Homeland Security
Immigration
Infrastructure/Technology
Jobs
Principles/Values
Social Security
Tax Reform
War/Iraq/Mideast
Welfare/Poverty

Page last updated: Dec 07, 2008