A government "budget surplus" doesn't mean that there are excess funds sitting someplace (Ft. Knox?). It means that future income (which is essentially made up of income taxes plus government borrowing) will exceed future expenses/expenditures by some amount. This is all based on projections and assumptions, and when these turn out to be wrong then everything goes belly-up. During an economic downturn (let's not use the R word) is probably the wrong time to increase spending (have you seen the Defense bill?!!), decrease taxes, send out a $300/$600 bribe to most US citizens, and still expect there to be a surplus when you're finished.