$1 Trillion More In Debt Since Obama Took Office

by Mark Knoller - August 3rd, 2009 - CBS News

So rapid is the pace of deficit spending by the federal government, that the National Debt has increased over a trillion dollars since President Obama took office.

On Inauguration Day, the Debt stood at $10.626 trillion. The latest posting from the Treasury Department shows that as of July 31st, the debt hit $11.669 trillion.

During the last administration, it took over 2 ½ years for the National Debt to increase a trillion dollars. [That period included the huge increase in expenditures as a result of the war buildup for the 9/11 response and a huge economic hit reducing tax receipts, also as a result of 9/11.] But by the time former president George W. Bush left office, he had run up the deficit by a record amount: $4.9-trillion over eight years.

A great deal of current deficit spending was already in the pipeline from the Bush administration and Mr. Obama, anticipating this day, said that increases have to be kept in perspective.

"They basically handed me a bill for $1.3 trillion and said, 'Here, fix it,'" insisted the president last week at a Town Hall Meeting in Bristol, VA...

This is duplicitous. As usual with the liar Obama that claim of $1.3 trillion is a fraud. In actuality the Bush deficit would have been slightly more than the record for 2008, or about $500 billion. Though outrageous, it would not have approached the $1.3 trillion number unless you include $600 billion for TARP. Half of that, $300 billion, was merely requested by Bush to help Obama. Obama now blames Bush because his name is on the request. However Bush's plans were when TARP was paid back (as the Wall Street banks are now doing) it would be used to REDUCE the deficit, not as Obama has used it as a permanent slush fund for his Treasury Secretary (tax cheat) Tim Geithner. That is why it is adding to the deficit.

The rest of the excess (over the $500 billion that is clearly accountable to Bush) is money that Bush projected needed to be cut. Obama and the Democrats simply spent the money, rather than finding places to cut, and now have the arrogance to blame Bush for their own decisions. Poor Obama. He can't make a tough decision on where to cut and it is all Bush's fault.

More than $800 billion of the current increase is directly attributable to Obama, but Obama blames Bush. Does anyone remember how Obama excoriated Bush for his failure to cut our deficits when Bush was in charge? It was a fair criticism. Bush spent money like a drunken sailor. Obama seems to think he can vastly increase this spending and excuse it with the explanation, "Bush made me do it! It's all his fault."

At the current rate, the expectation that Obama will spend $2 Trillion in his first year, quadrupling the deficits under Bush's worst year, is proving to be vastly underated. Just how disastrous it will get is anybody's guess.