Victor Davis Hanson Quotes
The more we spend on social spending the more we create an appetite for more social spending.
Victor Davis Hanson, Essayist, Interview, C-SPAN, Book TV, March 7, 2004
Sourced by: Eigen's Political and Historical Quotations
Although the Professor was often right about this technique, at the time he made this statement, the Clinton administration was actually cutting spending and using much of the revenue to pay for the deficit—just the opposite of what the Professor was worried about. It was successful and the deficit was eliminated and surpluses were projected. However the succeeding administration more closely followed the professor’s pattern and increased spending enormously for serious needs, but also cut taxes, so that we went during the Bush administration from the largest projected surplus in American history to the greatest deficit in American history.
At the time, the Republicans cast themselves as the party of prudent and responsible budgeting and the Democrats as the party of spending, especially on social services. The reality was just the reverse for a period of time, when it was the Clinton Democratic Administration that had a balanced budget and a surplus as opposed to the Republican administrations of high deficits and even greater social spending than the Democrats. Greenspan was himself a Republican which added a little sting to the quotation.
Victor Davis Hanson is an American conservative commentator, classicist, and military historian. He has been a commentator on modern and ancient warfare and contemporary politics for The New York Times, Wall Street Journal, National Review, The Washington Times, and other media outlets.
