National Debt Up $ 3,000,000,000,000 Since Inauguration Day 2009
CBS News reporter Mark Knoller notes a rather inauspicious milestone:
New numbers posted today on the Treasury Department website show the National Debt has increased by more than $3 trillion since President Obama took office.
The National Debt stood at $10.626 trillion the day Mr. Obama was inaugurated. The Bureau of Public Debt reported today that the National Debt had hit an all time high of $13.665 trillion.
The Debt increased $4.9 trillion during President Bush’s two terms. The Administration has projected the National Debt will soar in Mr. Obama’s fourth year in office to nearly $16.5-trillion in 2012. That’s more than 100 percent of the value of the nation’s economy and $5.9-trillion above what it was his first day on the job.
That’s just not good news no matter which way you look at it.
But paying it wouldn’t be fair, yeah yeah
(A cheap shot, but in my humble opinion, not undeserved.)
Paying it? It’s more than 100 percent of the value of the nation’s economy. Who can pay that?
But it is all Bush’s fault so it doesn’t matter. Apparently Obama has done nothing since being elected.
Ah, Steve gives me the opportunity to take the mature high ground. That $3T is composed of at least three parts:
1) automatic increases coming out of the recession, and related to rules predating Bush and Obama.
2) Bush’s part. That would be tax rate cuts still in effect. A couple wars. Stimulus. Bailouts.
3) Obama’s part. More stimulus. More bailouts. A continuation of Bush’s tax cuts and Bush’s wars, plus some genuinely new spending.
The thing that strikes me is that the budget gap is bipartisan. And of course the play argument that “Obama had nothing to do with it” is meant to hide that.
Shorter: How about calling it an “American” debt at this point, and setting about to fix it?
Tyler Cowen on “expecting too much”:
http://www.marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevolution/2010/10/expecting-too-much.html
Your sarcasm meter is broken.
Ha! Now you sound like a Republican from 2001/2002.
No way dude, the Obamassiah is a saint, he can do no wrong.
[Remember your sarcasm meter is broken.]
I think it’s more that I didn’t find the sarcasm useful.
Though, perhaps, I should just give up the whole budget balancing nonsense.
I should probably just accept that lower taxes are good, and spending programs are good.
Why sweat it …
I share your frustration, the problem is that when it comes time for making cuts everyone wants their pet program to be exempt. You have the hawks who want the military exempt, the socially conscious who want various transfer programs exempt, and so forth. Each side uses scare tactics to the extent that they can, and not much gets done.
It will all be put right though…someday. And what an ugly day that will be.