Did Bill Clinton pay off the national debt?
Critics have frequently used the term "raid" to describe the practice of using Social Security surpluses to fund other government operations and reduce the deficit. During the Clinton administration, the federal government continued the long-standing practice of counting Social Security revenue toward the unified budget balance. Because Social Security was running a surplus during those years, that extra money was used to cover other government expenses, effectively masking the size of the deficit or contributing to the surplus. While this was not a unique action by the Clinton administration, it was a subject of significant political contention, and the Congressional Budget Office acknowledged that lawmakers consistently utilized Social Security revenues in their budget calculations.