It was showed as a surplus because it was a surplus when it came to the budget. The problem behind it that for the first time in a while, the United States budget worked with a surplus after the year ended even though it was not the idea of a surplus that the people believed.
The surplus disappeared because it never really existed. It was a surplus but it didn't mean that the country was not in debt. The country had a huge amount of debt to other countries or to companies or to any other institution such as a bank. The surplus was eaten up by the debt accumulated over the years. There was a surplus, but the debt was not reduced.
