It's a budget surplus... No one used the surplus to pay down the debt though.
The debt during the 8 years of GWB was the highest percentage of debt raise EVER in the history of the US.
Even Obama's first 4 years have not compared to GWB on any level.
"Clinton" was greatly aided by demographics and the capital gains tax cut. During his Presidency, the baby boomers hit ttheir pek earnings years. This lead to an influx of revenue. The cap gains tax cut lead investor to buy and sell more freely because they were allowed to keep far more of the profits. With the loft in the marketplace created by an influx of cash from 401k and pension plans, huge amounts of tax revenue were realized by the treasury as investors booked gain after gain....
GWB was hamstrung by a recession that he inherited in 2001, the aftershocks of 9/11 the resulting Mideast wars ( that many dems voted for) and the collapse of an overheated housing market that for a number of reasons, nearly destroyed the banking industry.
My main issue with Obama is his obvious distrust of the business community and his sheer ignorance of how capitalism actually works.