In 1998, the U.S. federal government recorded its first budget surplus since 1969, ending nearly three decades of spending more than it collected. The surplus c

In 1998, the U.S. federal government recorded its first budget surplus since 1969, ending nearly three decades of spending more than it collected. The surplus continued for four consecutive fiscal years, from 1998 through 2001, during a period shaped by spending restraint, earlier tax increases, str…