By FITSNews || Back in 2001, when former U.S. President Bill Clinton was leaving office, the once-reliable Congressional Budget Office projected annual surpluses of approximately $850 billion from 2009-12.
Imagine that! Government spending less money than it took in, and then using these massive surpluses to pay down its debt (which in 2001 totaled $5.7 trillion) and pump more money into the private sector.
A novel idea, right?
So … what happened?
Well for starters, George W. Bush and Barack Obama happened. Along with their “Republican” and Democratic Congresses, which were ostensibly elected to rein in the “wasteful spending” of the other party – but then proceeded to one-up their “ideological opponents” on fiscal recklessness.
Republicans aren’t for “limited government,” people. They’re for ridiculously large government growing at ridiculous levels. And Democrats aren’t for “big government,” they’re for obscenely large government growing at obscene levels
The only thing that changes is which party has its hands on the spigot …
Now, just nine years later, the projected deficit spending for 2009-12 is more than $3.7 trillion, part of the reason we’ll have a $14.4 trillion debt by the end of this year and a $20.3 trillion debt (if current levels hold) by the end of the decade.
Fiscal conservatives also maintain that the Congressional Budget Office – which has become extremely malleable to political pressure – is low-balling those figures, sort of like the Department of Labor is low-balling unemployment data.
The bottom line, though, is that the empire is burning.
By 2020, the interest payments on our debt alone could top $1 trillion, which amounts to around 30 percent of the current federal budget.
How is America going to afford that? Particularly in light of the impending collapse of Social Security and Medicaid?
Short answer?
It’s not …
By PasserBy March 12, 2010 at 12:36 pm
And Nero fiddles in the background…
By OhNoNotAgain March 12, 2010 at 12:42 pm
So Bush and Obama happened?
Let’s be fair. Eight years and eight budgets by Bush and team later, then two years, but just one complete budget by Obama later.
I have to admit that Obama and the Democrats are getting us to hell in a handbasket with their deficit spending proposals.
But we don’t get THIS deep in the hole without the eight years of Bush and Co. that precede. It’s also nice to find a conservative who will admit there was a budget surplus at the end of the Clinton’s term, though it wasn’t JUST a “projected” surplus of that amount. There was like $200 illion or so in the actual bank. I honestly don’t know if it was just a million or a billion, so I say illion.
Anyway. Sign. Yes.
The truth is both parties are against deficit spending. The Democrats are against it when the Republicans are in charge and do it, and the Republicans are vehement against it when the Democrats are in charge and do it.
By WorkingTommyC March 12, 2010 at 1:02 pm
I’m still trying to figure out the logic of my paycheck currently having $$$.$$ taken out every two weeks by the federal government to ensure that dead people had great retirements and free medical care.
THEY’RE FREAKIN’ DEAD! WHY DO I HAVE TO PAY FOR THE COMFORTABLE LIFESTYLE THEY GOT TO ENJOY THEN AT MY EXPENSE TODAY? If they died without paying their bills, why am I responsible for them?
This is not rule of law. It’s rule of death. We’re being led by zombies–dead generations of fascists and other socialists who live on through their ability to charge the living for debts racked up by those long dead.
By roofus March 12, 2010 at 1:08 pm
The Democrats have controlled Congress and hence spending since 2006.
Our national debt has exploded since 2006.
Time to let the grown-ups take over…
Hopefully 2010 will be the year of the fiscal conservative.
By No Name March 12, 2010 at 1:22 pm
Until a Republican National leader has a break out speech laying claim to the Bush disaster and apologizing for this bailout Bankster theft nothing will move forward in the American voters mind.
Under the professed guise of “Jesus loves me”…which none of us know is correct …it is just what the Bush professes…..America was destroyed.
Without a valid economy and without the curing mechanism of failure in an economy….first eliminated as a tool in the Poverty wars and then applied to the Military Industrial Complex and finally Wall Street Banksters…..we have nothing to support our Constitution.
And this was Bush’s fault …..done on McCain’s watch ….has Obama helped or led change….no….the white guilt vote that propelled him to victory now understands what Bill Clinton stated…..this guy….regardless of skin color….should be getting cofee for us while gathering some experience on the most difficult job in the world.
The more Obama tries to do….. the more inexperienced he looks.
Now white people are supposedly not allowed to say this as black voters say…..and rightly so….so what if he is ineffectual and over his head…..so were many previous White Presidents…..leave our “McNabb” President alone.
I hear you you brother…..but it is the fourth quarter no time outs and we are behind by 40 points….it sucks…..sorry we choose this time to allow a Black President ….but he is only going to get about two more minutes at this before he will defacto be replaced by the entire DNC abandoning.
At least he will have a lot of free time on his hands after 2010 to help fellow blacks like Tavis Smiley believes he should.
Next up “The Great White Horse Savior” ….Mitt Romney…..may God help us.
By vicupstate March 12, 2010 at 3:33 pm
No Name, did it ever occur to you that Obama won not so much from ‘white guilt’, as the fact that it was a repudiation of all that Bush did?
I assure you, that had much more to do with it.
By CNSYD March 12, 2010 at 5:16 pm
WorkingTommyC, let me be sure I understand you. Whether we agree or disagree on the wars in Iraq and Afganistan is not the issue. I believe you will agree that US soldiers have died in these conflicts. Their widows and children are probably receiving some sort of benefits from the Federal government as a result. So these dead soldiers are some of the dead people that you don’t want to “pay” for, right? People of your ilk love to make these sweeping generalizations without bothering to think them thru. Your “lifestle”, whatever it may be, is made better/comfortable every day by your tax dollars. You use highways that they paid for, do not worry about foreign armies coming in the night, etc.
By Ynotfirst March 13, 2010 at 7:15 am
social security collapsed when it got privatized back oh let’s go with in 1991, according to my evidence
By madcock March 14, 2010 at 1:00 pm
Again, you just make things up to shore up your bogus GOP talking points.
The CBO isn’t “discredited.” The huge annual surpluses created by Clinton were there when he left office, not just “projected” When the GOP passed the huge Bush tax cuts for the wealthy, the CBO projected they would eat up the surplus and turned it into a deficit. It did.
The day George Bush took office the federal budget surplus he inherited from Bill Clinton was $300 million dollars.
The day Obama took office the federal deficit he inherited from George W. Bush was $1.25 trillion. Despite huge drops in projected revenues due to the recession he inherited, the current deficit is $1.4 trillion.
There is no way to spin this deficit as the fault of anyone but the GOP, if you have a shred of honesty. It’s all numbers and out in the open facts.
But since you lack that shred of honesty, I’m sure we can count on your spin continuing as long as the GOP “johns” continue to pay you, their “whore,” to your consulting work.
And BTW, I’ve got plenty of issues with Obama, but this is not his creation.
By fitsnews March 14, 2010 at 7:11 pm
Madcock-
Duh. Did you not read the article?
And also, refresh yourself.
http://www.fitsnews.com/2010/01/30/a-note-to-our-democratic-commenters/
GOP Talking Points?
You need to head over to The Palmetto Scoop for those.
-FITS
By Elmer March 15, 2010 at 9:40 am
I get so tired of the idiotic simple minded Republican versus Democrat shell game argument regarding which party is the most fiscally irresponsible. It’s like going to an AA meeting and voting on who is the worst drunk. Everyone is a drunk stupid!! Lieberman, McCain, Graham, Pelosi, Reid, Dodd- they are all the same. They would all switch parties if it kept them in power – just ask Lieberman.