The National Debt Has Increased More Under Obama’s One Term Than Bush’s Two Terms
But remember, it’s still all Bush’s fault.
(CBS News) The National Debt has now increased more during President Obama’s three years and two months in office than it did during 8 years of the George W. Bush presidency.
The Debt rose $4.899 trillion during the two terms of the Bush presidency. It has now gone up $4.939 trillion since President Obama took office.
The latest posting from the Bureau of Public Debt at the Treasury Department shows the National Debt now stands at $15.566 trillion. It was $10.626 trillion on President Bush’s last day in office, which coincided with President Obama’s first day.
The National Debt also now exceeds 100% of the nation’s Gross Domestic Product, the total value of goods and services.
Mr. Obama has been quick to blame his predecessor for the soaring Debt, saying Mr. Bush paid for two wars and a Medicare prescription drug program with borrowed funds.
I’ll not defend Bush on deficit spending. Thanks to the Bush tax cuts, among other favorable economic factors, a surging economy saw growing federal tax receipts put in the national treasury. But Republicans of that era grew spending faster than receipts. We could have had a balanced budget, or close to it, had they just held the line on spending during that time.
They didn’t.
That being said, Obama and the Democrat Congress are mathematically more than twice as bad as Bush and Republicans.