Page "Bill Clinton" Paragraph 36

On February 15, 1993, Clinton made his first address to the nation, announcing his plan to raise taxes to cap the budget deficit.

Two days later, in a nationally televised address to a joint session of Congress, Clinton unveiled his economic plan.

The plan focused on reducing the deficit rather than on cutting taxes for the middle class, which had been high on his campaign agenda.

Clinton's advisers pressured him to raise taxes on the theory that a smaller federal budget deficit would reduce bond interest rates.