Four trillion dollars has been added to the national debt since President Obama took office.
That's 4 million million dollars. That's 4 with 12 zeroes after it -- for less than three years. It's nearly a third of all federal debt amassed throughout American history. [Note: Actually, there are ways to measure it as not the largest additional debt ever. It isn't the largest increase, by percentage, of any three years.]
CBS News reports:
The debt was $10.626 trillion on the day Mr. Obama took office. The latest calculation from Treasury shows the debt has now hit $14.639 trillion. It’s the most rapid increase in the debt under any U.S. president.
Taxed to death. If we had 4 million millionaires in the United States, we could take everything they earned this year and pay off those three years of debt. Unfortunately, we have only 250,000 or so millionaires, so even if we tax them to death, we'd pay only one-quarter of $1 trillion.
Meaning: It's time to cut back on federal spending and bring it into balance with the government's once-sane usual income, relative to GDP and inflation. It's time government workers were reminded that they are public servants -- not a favored elite with an unlimited access to the public's privately earned cash. And it's time to reorganize Social Security and Medicare into systems in which expenses are equal to or less than revenue.
It's time to get real, or the nation's wealth will continue its dangerous and unnecessary burn-out on the high-speed train to poverty.
Frank Warner
Social Security should be (re)segregated into a system where it can only pay out what it takes in. This will force it to become a sustainable system (which obviously will pay out much less).
Next, we'll work on doing something similar to the federal government.
Posted by: George | August 23, 2011 at 11:00 AM
National Debt Growing by $3 Million a Minute
Posted by: CJW | August 23, 2011 at 10:31 PM
No, not any way. MSNBC just pointed out that Reagan had a higher percent increase. Obama is less than 50% and Reagan more than tripled it.
Posted by: mark | August 24, 2011 at 08:10 AM
MSNBC is not a good source of information anything to do with politics and religion.
Posted by: CJW | August 24, 2011 at 11:38 AM
MSNBC appears to be right on that. I admit it's too easy to tie debt only to presidents. But in fairness, Reagan had a mostly Democratic Congress to deal with during his two terms, and it always wanted to spent more than he did.
So far, Obama has had a Democratic Congress for two years, and a half-and-half Congress for nearly a year. During his less than three years, Obama has tried to spend more than has been spent.
Clinton had a balanced budget in 2000, but only because a Republican Congress forced it.
Posted by: Frank Warner | August 24, 2011 at 01:47 PM
"Clinton had a balanced budget in 2000..."
I reject this claim. It is true that the government spent less than it took in but only because it was spending the Social Security surplus and replacing it with IOUs. The fact is that we were actually going deeper in debt the whole time.
The only true balanced budget is one which does not put you deeper in debt.
Posted by: George | August 25, 2011 at 01:49 PM
MSNBC is not right on anything. They are the most biased media organization on TV.
Posted by: CJW | August 25, 2011 at 05:24 PM
Obamanonics vs. Reaganomics
One program for recovery worked, and the other hasn't.
If you really want to light the fuse of a liberal Democrat, compare Barack Obama's economic performance after 30 months in office with that of Ronald Reagan. It's not at all flattering for Mr. Obama. The two presidents have a lot in common. Both inherited an American economy in collapse. And both applied daring, expensive remedies. Mr. Reagan passed the biggest tax cut ever, combined with an agenda of deregulation, monetary restraint and spending controls. Mr. Obama, of course, has given us a $1 trillion spending stimulus.
Posted by: CJW | August 25, 2011 at 10:10 PM
Yeah... too bad the U.S. can't file bankruptcy and restructure it's debts.
Posted by: Spencer Hale | August 31, 2011 at 11:58 PM
If you voted for Obama in 2008 to prove you’re not a racist, you have to vote against Obama in 2012 to prove you’re not an idiot.
Posted by: Neo | September 02, 2011 at 12:01 PM
Since 1948, the oldest data BLS has, there have been 46 months in which the unemployment rate has been 9% or higher. Twenty six of them have occurred during the 31 months of the Obama administration.
Posted by: George | September 02, 2011 at 04:18 PM
George, I believe Clinton's (and the Republican Congress's) 2000 surplus did not count any Social Security money. Those who say Clinton had more than one year of balanced budgets do include Social Security cash, and that's bad accounting.
Posted by: Frank Warner | September 05, 2011 at 07:12 PM
Frank: You're half right. They counted the Social Security income. They didn't count the part where they borrowed it and spent it.
Clinton often takes credit for "paying down the debt." The fact is that the debt was constantly going up under Clinton; it never went down.
Posted by: George | September 05, 2011 at 10:29 PM
Hmmmm...
Posted by: Frank Warner | September 06, 2011 at 03:55 PM
Politifact, WaPo: No, Obama is the “undisputed debt king”
Posted by: CJW | September 29, 2011 at 06:50 PM
I admit it's too easy to tie debt only to presidents. But in fairness, Reagan had a mostly Democratic Congress to deal with during his two terms, and it always wanted to spent more than he did.
Posted by: web design London | October 04, 2011 at 05:44 AM
Obama Has Now Increased Debt More than All Presidents from George Washington Through George H.W. Bush Combined
Over 4 years to equal $66,000 for each full-time private-sector worker
Posted by: CJW | October 06, 2011 at 10:49 PM
Obama Surges to Another New Record – Third Straight Year With Trillion Dollar Deficit
Posted by: CJW | October 15, 2011 at 08:41 AM
‘Misery Index’ Hits 28-Year High
Posted by: CJW | October 19, 2011 at 06:30 PM
The Supercommittee’s Failure: What Really Happened
If the voters understood how the Democratic Party has blocked every effort to bring fiscal sanity to Washington, would a single Democrat be returned to Washington next November?
Posted by: CJW | November 24, 2011 at 10:00 AM
Debt for First 11 Months of ‘11: $1.1 Trillion
Posted by: CJW | December 01, 2011 at 06:52 PM
Five Myths About President Obama's Sluggish Economic Recovery
Posted by: CJW | December 23, 2011 at 12:30 PM
The Dangerous Notion That Debt Doesn't Matter
Posted by: CJW | January 21, 2012 at 10:19 PM
The fact is that we were actually going deeper in debt the whole time...
Posted by: adammarleymtts | May 21, 2012 at 11:47 AM
Reagan lowered taxes way too much. His job creation record was great but he tripled our debt. We were the #1 creditor in the world when he got into office, when he left we were the #1 debtor in the world. Deficit spending was born.....
Posted by: met | May 27, 2012 at 11:01 AM