Malkin claimed "we've never had" fiscal responsibility from Democrats; CBO disagrees

Syndicated right-wing columnist Michelle Malkin ridiculed Democrats who "sanctimoniously wave their hands around and preach about fiscal responsibility," saying: "We've never had that from the left. We've never had it from the Democrat Party." But former President Bill Clinton reduced the federal budget deficit during each year of his presidency; in fact, he ran surpluses in his last four budgets. Malkin was a guest on FOX News Channel's The O'Reilly Factor on August 31.

Citing the large increases in federal education spending and the Medicare prescription drug "entitlement" enacted under President George W. Bush, host Bill O'Reilly asked Malkin why the Democrats accuse Bush of "not doing enough."

O'REILLY: Why do you think if the entitlement, as you said accurately, has been the largest expansion in government history, if the education spending is more than it's ever been, why do the Democrats then say, "He's not doing enough, he's not doing enough"?

MALKIN: Well, they're always going to say that. I mean, they have nowhere else to go but to dig deeper into the hole. And, of course, at the same time sanctimoniously wave their hands around and preach about fiscal responsibility.

We've never had that from the left. We've never had it from the Democrat Party. So it comes fairly off [sic] as empty rhetoric.

According to the Congressional Budget Office (CBO), Clinton's fiscal year 1994 budget ran the smallest deficit since 1989 as a percentage of gross domestic product; his 1995 budget ran the smallest since 1979; 1996 the smallest since 1974; and 1997 the smallest since 1970. The surpluses from 1998 to 2001 were larger than in any year since 1963, the earliest year for which the CBO has data.

—G.W.