Bush has nearly doubled the National Debt

[WA_Vol]

I put this in another thread, but it deserves its own thread.

President Bush has nearly doubled the national debt during his eight years in the White House. As he prepares to return to Texas next month, Mr. Bush is on track to add $5 trillion to the $5.73 trillion national debt he inherited when he took office. According to Treasury Department data, the number was $10.66 trillion at the end of November, and it has been rising at an astronomical rate.
During fiscal 2008, which ended Sept. 30, the national debt increased by more than $1 trillion, breaking the previous fiscal year record of more than $600 billion. The national debt includes obligations held by the public as well as the intragovernmental debt in trust funds such as those operated by Medicare and Social Security.
The government's debt situation is about to get worse.
"Federal debt should increase by $2 trillion in fiscal year 2009," said Stan Collender, a longtime budget analyst who is the managing director at Qorvis Communications.

Washington Times - Eight years in office, a $10.6 trillion debt

Anyone in Congress in the last 8 years should have been voted out already, this is kind of fisical irresponsibility is indefensable.

Waiting for the Bush apologists, 1.....2......3.....

[hohenfelsvol]

War tends to do that.

[WA_Vol]

Originally Posted by hohenfelsvol

War tends to do that.

True, but was the Iraq War necessary? In my mind, no.

[BigPapaVol]

Originally Posted by oklavol

True, but was the Iraq War necessary? In my mind, no.

were the entitlements payments necessary?

[hohenfelsvol]

Originally Posted by oklavol

True, but was the Iraq War necessary? In my mind, no.

That's a different thread.

[orangeblooded2]

Originally Posted by oklavol

I put this in another thread, but it deserves its own thread.



Washington Times - Eight years in office, a $10.6 trillion debt

Anyone in Congress in the last 8 years should have been voted out already, this is kind of fisical irresponsibility is indefensable.

Waiting for the Bush apologists, 1.....2......3.....

I actually remember reading that we had a surplus
when he took over.That indeed we were in the black.
Which makes his tenure that much worse.

[rjd970]

Originally Posted by BigPapaVol

were the entitlements payments necessary?

hohenfelsvol implied the national debt doubling was primarily because of the war, isn't entitlements payments separate?

Do you think the debt would have been higher without the Bush tax cuts? If I am not mistaken, Bush was the first president in the last 100 years to go to war and not raise taxes to pay for it. Just wondering if the tax cuts paid for the war better than raising taxes would have.

[rjd970]

Originally Posted by orangeblooded2

I actually remember reading that we had a surplus
when he took over.That indeed we were in the black.
Which makes his tenure that much worse.

The debt and deficit/surplus are two separate entities.

[BigPapaVol]

Originally Posted by rjd970

hohenfelsvol implied the national debt doubling was primarily because of the war, isn't entitlements payments separate?

Do you think the debt would have been higher without the Bush tax cuts? If I am not mistaken, Bush was the first president in the last 100 years to go to war and not raise taxes to pay for it. Just wondering if the tax cuts paid for the war better than raising taxes would have.

I think raising taxes would have started this recession 5 years ago.

[rjd970]

Originally Posted by BigPapaVol

I think raising taxes would have started this recession 5 years ago.

Ok.

Again...do you think the debt would have been higher over the last eight years without the Bush tax cuts? I really want to get your opinion on this.

I can't see how cutting taxes in a time of war is fiscally responsible, but I want to hear the other side of the argument.

[droski]

as a % of gdp our debt is lower than virtually every first world country. much ado about nothing.

[droski]

Originally Posted by rjd970

Ok.

Again...do you think the debt would have been higher over the last eight years without the Bush tax cuts?

yes. the tax cuts produced billions of dollars in increased revenues do to increased employment and consumer spending. bush's mistake was spending like a drunken pirate, not the tax cuts.

[BigPapaVol]

Originally Posted by rjd970

Ok.

Again...do you think the debt would have been higher over the last eight years without the Bush tax cuts? I really want to get your opinion on this.

I can't see how cutting taxes in a time of war is fiscally responsible, but I want to hear the other side of the argument.

recessions are enormous debt producing animals, so yes the debt would have been higher, IMO.

The other side of the argument would be how can raising taxes ever be good for the economy, regardless of international circumstances. The economy is the engine by which we fund our gov't operations, so suppressing it seems to me to be a bad move.

[rjd970]

Originally Posted by droski

as a % of gdp our debt is lower than virtually every first world country. much ado about nothing.

I agree. Any talk about national debt must be put in perspective, but this it is still relevant because as a % of GDP, the debt has also steadily climbed over the last 8 years. We may be fine now, but fiscally we can't continue like we have over the last 8 years forever.

[droski]

Originally Posted by rjd970

We may be fine now, but fiscally we can't continue like we have over the last 8 years forever.

with the 30 year treasury at 3%, it would we darn near criminal to raise taxes rather than borrow to stimulate the economy. now if that rate goes to 6% or higher than i think you have a point.