The Republican-controlled U.S. Senate recently voted 52-48 to increase the national debt ceiling to $9 trillion. The current national debt is $8.27 trillion. Since President Bush took office just over 5 years ago, the debt has risen by about $2.5 trillion. In the 8 years that Bill Clinton was in office, the national debt rose by about $1.5 trillion. While this may seem bad, keep in mind that Bush has managed to increase our debt by $1.5 trillion - the total for Clinton in 8 years - in just 2 years. Bush and the Republican Congress have been racking up about $500 billion per year in debt, compared with Bill Clinton's $187 billion per year. The difference is that in Clinton's second term, the debt only increased by roughly $400 billion; the growth rate of the debt was getting smaller. Bush's debt growth rate continues to get larger and larger.
This debt growth rate exceeds all others even when counting for inflation. George W. Bush is outpacing his father in this regard. That's not a small task since Dubya's dad bulked up the national debt by about $1.5 trillion in his 4 years. Ronald Reagan, known for high budget deficits, raised the national debt by about $1.8 trillion in his 8 years. Jimmy Carter, not known for being the greatest economic President, only managed about $280 billion in new debt during his four years in office.
The numbers don't lie. Bush is a big spender. He likes to run up a lot of debt today while asking future generations to foot the bill. The United States is in danger of defaulting on its loans. We have gone from a nation with a healthy economy to a nation going bankrupt. Only total mismanagement could cause this to happen.
Remember during the Kaine campaign when we talked about how Mark Warner had taken Virginia from a budget deficit to a budget surplus? That is what good government gets you. Bad government bankrupts you, and causes your whole infrastructure to rot, and jobs to go somewhere else. This is not a Democrat issue or a Republican issue. This is an issue of leadership and competence.
Frankly, President Bush runs the economy like MC Hammer. He gives all his money away to his best friends, doesn't worry about investing in the future, and spends the rest of his money on fancy bling bling (i.e. unilateral wars, enormous bombs, expensive oil, and custom-made flight suits).
The only solution to stop blank-check giveaways to Halliburton and to bring our economy around is to elect Democrats who will truly stand up to Bush's budget bungling. Remember that George W. Bush grew up used to fancy cars and fancy living. He doesn't know any other way than to charge the account and let somebody else worry about paying the bill. Democrats know better. Democrats will bring back the responsible fiscal management we were promised when Bush took office. Hopefully, by the time the Democrats get back in charge, it won't already be too late.