Thursday, July 21, 2011

"Cleaning up George W. Bush's Mess..."

by j. wright~

“Cleaning up Bush’s mess…” I’m amazed how President G. W. Bush continues to be cast as the spendthrift by the loyal opposition: it's always "Bush's fault." Yes, the National Debt increased substantially during Bush's terms in office especially during his last two years with Democrats Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid in charge of the purse strings.

The Wall Street Journal, October 5, 2007, reported that “The Congressional Budget Office estimated that the U.S. federal budget deficit for fiscal year 2007, which ended Sunday, was about $161 billion. That’s down from the $248 billion shortfall recorded in fiscal 2006.” Bush's 2008 deficit was $239 Billion. This years projected deficit is $1.65 Trillion, close to six times higher than 2008.

From the same article, “While annual federal spending grew 2.8% in fiscal 2007 over fiscal 2006, year to year, revenue grew 6.7%. Individual income-tax receipts are estimated to be 11.3% higher than last year, and corporate income tax receipts are estimated to be 5% higher.”

That’s some difference in total annual deficits and growth rates in comparison to what we have experienced in the past two and one-half years under President Obama and his economic advisors (most of whom have recently left for greener pastures). Discontent and uncertainty are the only things that have grown lately.

Compare the Obama Administration’s deficit for the single month of February 2011 when it reached a record setting $223 billion to the fiscal year deficit recorded in 2008.

United States Treasury Department web site figures show that Bush and Congress increased the National Debt about $4.97 trillion with it topping off at $10.7 trillion when Obama assumed office. Today the National Debt is hovering at $14.5 trillion. Do the math. That’s an unsustainable increase of $3.8 trillion in two and one-half years of spending compared to Bush’s $4.97 trillion in eight.

To make the math even more simple: during Bill Clinton's presidency the nation's indebtedness increased at $547 Million daily. Under President George W. Bush the debt skyrocketed to $1.6 billion daily. During President Obama's term it has gone totally ballistic at a rate of $4.6 billion per day increase.

If President Obama is “…cleaning up Bush’s mess,” I would suggest he is well on his way to making a bigger mess of his own on the backs of future struggling taxpayers and foreign lenders.

jaq~

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