arney Frank has taught at Harvard, UMass-Boston, and Boston University. He has written one book and numerous articles on politics. He was executive assistant to Mayor White, administrative assistant to Congressman Harrington, and since 1981, a member of Congress. If reelected, he will be second-ranking Democrat on the committees on Banking and Judiciary.
Question: Given the current economic climate, what are your priorities for the budget surplus and why?
Answer: We should not count on the surplus being as large over the next 10 years as predicted. Binding ourselves legally to spend this projected surplus for years into the future is imprudent. As surplus revenues are actually generated by the taxes dedicated to Social Security and Medicare, they should be used to provide for these obligations in the future. This means using them to pay down public debt, and crediting the Social Security and Medicare accounts with the amounts.
Additional revenue should go half for further debt reduction; 10 percent for tax reductions, including an abolition of the marriage penalty for those who pay it, and an amendment to the estate tax to protect homes and family-owned small farms and small businesses. The remaining 40 percent should be used for important societal needs. The 1997 cuts in Medicare should be reversed, and a prescription drug benefit should be added to Medicare. Ultimately, I support using a substantial part of the surplus revenues to establish universal health coverage. Increased spending is also necessary for education, including increases in teachers' salaries and construction and rehabilitation of school buildings. Increased spending is also necessary to improve our transportation infrastructure and to meet environmental goals. Achieving clean water in particular will impose great costs and federal funds should go to alleviate this pressure. Finally we face a national housing crisis and the federal government should spend several billion dollars a year to support the production of affordable housing.
