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In case you didn't notice the national debt doubled from $5.7 trillion to more than $11 trillion during Bush's eight years. I don't know how old you are but it would have quadrupled from 1981 till 1993. Calculate what your part of that would be.
The reality of the situation is that during this first year of Obama's term there was absolutely nothing he could have done to turn things around without the 10% who are unemployed being adversely affected. He inheirited a financial train wreck of proportions which haven't been experienced in this country since the 1930's.
Yeah, let's look at reality, shall we?!! I did what you didn't do. The key to debt is to look at the % of GDP. So, let's take a look ..........
Debt increase 4 year administration (with % of GDP) & total in Trillions
Reagan 0.57, 33.4%, 0.78, 40.7%, 0.99
Bush I 1.13, 51.9%
Clinton 0.83, 64.1%, 0.26, 67.1%, 1.09
Bush II 1.58, 57.3%, 2.08, 62.9%, 3.67
Obama (projected 4-year) 6.54, 83.4% (as of the end of 2009)
From the US Budget, and include all debt and not just the public debt. All years are fiscal and start in October of the year.
So, while Bush doubled (even tripled) Clinton's debt, Obama is on record pace to even double that. And since his GDP is falling like a stone, it looks really really bad for him.
Conservative Presidents increased the debt by 8.6 Trillion in 30 years, however, Obama is projected to increase the debt by 8.5 Trillion from 2011 to 2020. The last time I checked , 10 years was smaller than 30 years. Oh, and that's not including the 2 Trillion he has already added in his first year. So, let's see, before he was sworn in, the debt was somewhere around 11 Trillion, right? Now it's raising to 13 Trillion, and is projected to be around 21 Trillion by 2020. Obama, alone, is going to dearly double the debt (10 Trillion) in just 11 years.
So, which sounds better ..... 10 in 12, or 8.6 in 30??
I've heard that for the last thirty years. You're acting as if the annual interest on the debt counts for nothing and during the Bush years It increased from about $230 billion a year to about half a trillion dollars. In other words we owe about $500 billion each year before we spend a penny. For your information When Reagan started his route to quadrupling the debt the annual interest was about $40 billion.
For comparison this nation spends about $100 billion on education and less than that on the infrastructure.
Low taxes for the wealthy is what got us into this mess. Bill Clinton set the tax rates back to where they were before Reagan and in eight years balanced the annual budget and had the financial system set to completely pay off the national debt by 2012. Bush put an end to that by lowering the rates back to Reagan years and doubling the existing debt from $5.7 trillion to more than $11 trillion. He was the first president to borrow from Communist Chinese banks and now we owe them nearly a trillion.
Go ahead and bask beneath that Republican dream because it has Jack to do with reality!
He's said a few good things, mainly. I give him a better rating than Bush just for not talking and acting like a bullying buffoon and also for renewing our image overseas. I spend a lot of time overseas and it's nice to not have Bush in office anymore . His stance on medical marijuana is good, and being inclusive of all religions in this country. (I know any people hate that, and hate non-Christians, but we do live here.) I also appreciate his committment to alternative energy, and repealing DADT.
Other than that, while I think he is a very intelligent man and seems like a nice guy, I just think he is the wrong person at the wrong time, because he cedes way too much control to neocon ideas like the War in Afghanistan, spying, and the Patriot act, and also spends too much money bailing out corporate interests. This economy would be hard on any President, but the decisions of this administration makes it even more obvious to me that both parties are controlled by the same interests.
Then again, the Republican alternatives don't look too great...even worse in my opinion.
I'd give him a C. Now for most of the Dems in Congress, I'd give them an F.
He's said a few good things, mainly. I give him a better rating than Bush just for not talking and acting like a bullying buffoon and also for renewing our image overseas. I spend a lot of time overseas and it's nice to not have Bush in office anymore . His stance on medical marijuana is good, and being inclusive of all religions in this country. (I know any people hate that, and hate non-Christians, but we do live here.) I also appreciate his committment to alternative energy, and repealing DADT.
Other than that, while I think he is a very intelligent man and seems like a nice guy, I just think he is the wrong person at the wrong time, because he cedes way too much control to neocon ideas like the War in Afghanistan, spying, and the Patriot act, and also spends too much money bailing out corporate interests. This economy would be hard on any President, but the decisions of this administration makes it even more obvious to me that both parties are controlled by the same interests.
Then again, the Republican alternatives don't look too great...even worse in my opinion.
I'd give him a C. Now for most of the Dems in Congress, I'd give them an F.
I agree totally with everything you said in the first paragraph. As far as Obama continuing the TARP...Bush and his henchmen Paulson and Bernanke did that. Except for the auto manufacturer's bailout the money was there waiting to be used.
The biggest gripe I've had since I stopped voting for Republicans during the second Reagan term is the only basic platform they've had was borrowing money to fund wars and tax cuts and figuring out a way to make Democrats look bad. Just study for a moment what they did to Bill Clinton beginning within weeks after he took office. They investigated him nine years from Sunday, spent about $100,000,000 and Ken Starr used FBI and everything else he could think of and Clinton's sex life is all they found.
I voted for Republicans beginning with Dwight Eisenhower and continuing until Reagan's second term. I knew Republicans who stood for their old platform of small government and balanced budgets. I think they have sold their souls to the corporations and the wealthy.
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