Apples to apples: yes, it's always looked at as a forward projection. But the forward projection in 2000 was one heck of a lot better than the one in 1994. And the one in 2008 was one heck of a lot worse than then one in 2000.

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>Small point of fact...
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>The government of the United States of America has not had a budget surplus since approximately 1960.
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>In the last year or two of the Clinton administration, President Bill Clinton "declared" a budget surplus and the press reported it as such, which may be where you got the idea. But Clinton's supposed budget surplus was a ten year future projection showing the "near" years with the typical large deficits and the "far out" years with projected surpluses.
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>No matter what you hear reported, the United States has operated on budget deficits for over 4 decades... without exception. It's a myth that George W. Bush inherited a budget surplus.
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>Anyone can verify this by looking at official government accounting data at the OMB web site. if you actually take the time to research this, be sure to distinguish between operating funds of the government versus trust funds (like Social Security Fund, Highway Fund, etc).