So where'd the extra money go if it wasn't spent? The federal debt didn't go down at all from 1993 through 2000. So if the money wasn't spent and the debt didn't go down, where's the money?
| Annual Historical Debt Outstanding | |
|---|---|
| Date | Amount |
| 09/30/2000 | $5,674,178,209,886.86 |
| 09/30/1999 | $5,656,270,901,615.43 |
| 09/30/1998 | $5,526,193,008,897.62 |
| 09/30/1997 | $5,413,146,011,397.34 |
| 09/30/1996 | $5,224,810,939,135.73 |
| 09/29/1995 | $4,973,982,900,709.39 |
| 09/30/1994 | $4,692,749,910,013.32 |
| 09/30/1993 | $4,411,488,883,139.38 |
| 09/30/1992 | $4,064,620,655,521.66 |
There never was a surplus, just smoke and mirrors.
If I'm not mistaken, the interest on the debt causes the number to keep going up, even when we pay down the principal, as we did in the late 90s. I don't have any data available at the moment, though.