to do. take a thereon what paul ryan had to say. first of all, we don t have the full votes for repeal, many said repeal and replace. if we just did a repeal, 51 votes and not replace then we wouldn t be able to get a replaceed because they can filibuster a place. the promise made to voters we will repeal and replace and so we are using the budget tools that we have in the senate to do repeal and replace. remember, maria, this is why we have a 3-part process. we could put everything we wanted into this one bill and have it vote on with 51 votes in the senate, we would do that. because of the senate rules and how narrow they are to do reconciliation, you can t put everything you want in the bill. like say interstate shopping across state lines.
and more importantly, how does he get his whites so bright? find out with cheer. surprisingly bright at a new lower price. so, cut spending or raise taxes, both very unpopular choices in washington where there is an election cycle around every corner. the last time we cut the debt was in the 90s under former president clinton. that was the last time we actually had a budget surplus. and some say the economy was going in the right direction to help that along. the reason tough spending rules also require congress to pay for things as they go, also known as paygo. there are two different types of categories and budget tools that can really help fix the situation. there is one category of tools that enforce budget rules.
there is paygo. for discretionary programs, there are spending caps. let s look at paygo first. i have long been an advocate for paygo. if someone is going to propose a tax cut, they have to pay for it. if someone is going to propose an increase in mandatory spending, they have to find a way to pay for it. our fiscal challenge is too great to be solved with any one step alone. last week, i signed into law the pay-go bill. it says that the united states should pay as we go and live within our means, as responsible americans do. this is a weak version. a strong pay-go would not exempt so much spending and tax increases and would apply to all the programs. the other type of budget tools is expenditure caps. that limits how much the growth of discretionary spending can go forward each year.
so cut spending or raise taxes, both very unpopular choices in washington where there is an election cycle around every corner. the last time we cut the debt was in the 90s under former president clinton. that was the last time we actually had a budget surplus, and some say the economy was going in the right direction to help that along. the reason tough spending rules also require congress to pay for things as they go, also known as paygo. there are two different types of categories and budget tools that can really help fix the situation. there is one category that helps fix budget rules. there is paygo. for discretionary programs, there are spending cuts. i have long been an advocate for pay-go.
that s where it matters because you need usually 60 votes to pass normal legislation because it s subject to a filibuster. budget reconciliation, essentially how you agree to these large spending bills in congress only takes 50 votes. a simple majority. got it. in the senate. so you can use the budget tools to essentially gut the affordable care act. it s much easier to do that than it is to use the rules to write new laws basically. so, if you re trying to write a new law, trying to replace the health care law you dismantled you need 60 votes to do that and republicans acknowledge that s the challenge in front of them. in the house they can pass whatever they want. republicans control the chamber and then over to the senate. what happens then? how do republicans square that circle? tom price, someone who has been up here and i think you want to pay attention to mike pence in this equation, as well. they overlapped here in the house of representatives.