On Aug. 5, 1997, President Bill Clinton and the Republican-controlled Congress, led by Speaker Newt Gingrich, enacted the Balanced Budget Act. This bipartisan agreement aimed to balance the federal budget by 2002. Most of the credit goes to Gingrich because Clinton had vetoed previous Republican proposals for reducing the debt. The deal resulted in four consecutive years of budget surpluses, a rarity. But the big spending addicts returned and so has the debt, now more than $37 trillion.

Democrats are hoping the current government "shutdown" will be blamed on Republicans as in the past. Perhaps it's time to bring back Clinton and Gingrich to work their previous magic. As with President Trump's DOGE, Gingrich exposed large amounts of wasteful and unnecessary spending.

In an email, Gingrich tells me he visited Capitol Hill last month and gave budget committee staff of the House and Senate a "workbook" detailing how to balance the budget and pay down the national debt.

As for necessary public support, which he says is crucial, Gingrich believes voters must be convinced debt reduction is a necessity. He references a 2014 Gallup poll which found respondents believed the government wastes 51 cents of every dollar it spends. A 2025........

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