RISK-TAKERS DESERVE CREDIT FOR THE SURPLUS

There's so much to look forward to in the few remaining days before the big election on Nov. 7. Given the campaign rhetoric up to this point, just imagine what you're likely to hear in the next 10 days.

An example of things to come accompanied the announcement Tuesday that the federal government posted a $237 billion surplus for the third consecutive year, something that hasn't happened in this country since the 1940s.

Good news?

You bet it is.

And Democrats are betting that it will help Al Gore get to the White House.

The very day the surplus was announced, President Clinton stumped on behalf on his vice president and claimed that Gore deserved credit for the fiscal turnaround since 1992's $290 billion deficit.

It's bad enough when Gore takes credit himself for things he didn't do. Now he has the president giving him credit he doesn't deserve.

Think about it. What, exactly, could a vice president of the United States have done in the past eight years to revive the economy?

Gore certainly didn't risk his own money to start a company. He didn't create any new jobs by starting a business. He didn't create any markets for new products.

So he gets the credit?

Let's look at who spends our money in Washington. It certainly isn't the vice president. It's Congress. And Congress, even with its swelling spending programs, hasn't been able to spend more than the government is taking in.

Why?

Because the thousands of Americans who have risked their own money, who have created new jobs by starting new businesses and who have created markets for new products have been so successful. They have taken advantage of the economic momentum and have made the most of it. And, it should be pointed out, these risk-taking entrepreneurs don't belong to just one political party.

So if the president wants to give credit for the current economic boon, he should be thanking the men and women who see ways to create and expand businesses and work hard to make them succeed.

These are, after all, the people who pay most of the taxes that allowed the government to have a surplus.