Not Even Hindsight is 20/20

Jane Galt explains why I’m a big fan of divided government:

Clinton’s committment to deficit reduction has been somewhat retroactively enhanced. Had he succeeded in passing his national health care scheme, the deficit would have grown, not shrunk. It was the election of a Republican congress, and the resulting stalemate–Republicans not allowed to raise taxes, and Democrats not allowed to raise spending–that seems to have kept the surplus for debt reduction, rather than new tax cuts or spending increases. As soon as one party controlled all three branches, they proceeded to get rid of the surplus.

And as Jane implies, it doesn’t seem to matter which party is in charge, so long as they control the White House and the House and Senate.