Interesting way to look at the debt, especially since debt rose under Saint Ronnie and decline under Bad-boy Bill. It seems to me if we cut the war business, the debt might not be such an issue.

It is difficult to balance 2 wars and pull out of an almost depression. Too bad Obama is getting all the blame. People that are placing all the blame on him really aren’t intellectually honest with themselves or with others.

22 Thoughts to “A Historical Look at U.S. Debt”

  1. Slowpoke Rodriguez

    Seems like a pretty good reason to blame Obama, Bush, and any Democratic controlled government! Clinton, to his credit, was smart enough to acquiesce to the Gingrich-led Congress that balanced the budget (Clinton ONLY deserves credit for “going along with it”). Then the era of Neo-Cons, and perpetual pre-emptive war, and the financial disaster that was Iraq and is/will be Afghanistan. But not until the Democratic-controlled Congress of 2006 did things really go bananas. Bush deserves blame for “going along with it”. Then again, Bush would go along with anything to keep his wars going. The good thing here is that we don’t have to argue about this, because with Obama, Pelosi, and Reid in power, we’ll have bigger dangers to face than just bickering over whose fault everything is. Bottom line: It’s all their faults. Problem for the left is, and only thing that will fix it is essentially the left’s worst nightmare.

  2. Slowpoke Rodriguez

    Oh, why am I up? We’re going to the hospital, that’s why 🙂

  3. May the force be with Mrs. Slowpoke. Wishing her a fast, quick, safe labor.

    (ignoring your comment #1)

  4. El Guapo

    The actual “national debt” that is reported is chump change when compared to the benefit obligations of Social Security and Medicare. Politicians will want to sweep that under the rug because they don’t have the political courage to deal with it. When W brought it up a few years ago he was shushed by those who didn’t want to address it.

  5. Emma

    @Slowpoke Rodriguez It is all their faults. Bush for getting us into the damned Iraq War, and Congress for rallying ’round the flag and supporting war while refusing to actually fund it.

  6. Emma

    And I hope that by now you are looking at a beautiful baby face and a tired, happy wife, Slow 🙂

  7. @Emma, who is going to jump off her bed as soon as she is able and pull Slowpokes lips over his head over something he said… 🙄

  8. Emma

    Hee-hee. Far be it for us to remind her….

  9. She doesn’t know. Should we blackmail Slowpoke?

  10. Emma

    We’ll let them get out of the first throes of baby love, and then we can come up with something, Moon.

  11. kelly3406

    It would be interesting to see the same plots in the video shown in relation to republican president-republican congress, republican president-democratic congress, democratic president-republican congress, and democratic president-democratic congress.

    As Slowpoke mentioned, you may see that debt accumulation is predominately a function of the party in control of Congress.

  12. Well now, let’s see. Two wars and a recession….

    Bush’s deficits were at 452 billion and dropping. The very next year, Obama’s was 1.2 trillion and rising. Both had the same recession and deficit. Spending does not bring a nation out of a deficit.

    Reagan’s deal with the Dems failed. They tacked on a lot of spending that if Reagan wanted his defense spending, he had to sign.

    Bush, with a GOP congress failed to put its money where their collective mouths were. They were SUPPOSED cut spending, but lied. That’s one of the main reasons why they were not supported by the conservatives in 2006.

    It was the divided congress/admin that cut spending. Clinton was an opportunist that would cut deals to make himself look good and it worked. He does not seem to be an ideologue.

    Saint Ronnie had a war to fight, albeit a cold one. Clinton had no wars. Thus, the “peace dividend.”

  13. SlowpokeRodriguez

    Slowpoke jr. Was born at 1:13. I have to admit, I was head over heels at first sight. Whatever it is, those bonding chemicals are STRONG!!

  14. Congratulations Slowpoke!! What does his big brother think of him? How is Mrs. Slowpoke doing? Please give her our best.

  15. Cargo, Not going to get into a pissing contest over who spent more on what…Bush or Obama. Both spent what they felt they needed to, based on advice of their advisors. We aren’t in the 2nd great depression so I am going to assume someone did something right.

  16. Pat.Herve

    if we want to talk about future obligations like SS and Medicare, do not forget about the Unfunded Medicare Part D – all the same R’s that want pay as you go, voted for Part D with no funding stream for it.

  17. Why? This “recession” isn’t over yet. And its not getting any better. History shows that spending programs like FDR’s and Obama’s do not fix recessions. Nor does more governmental control of the economy.

    As to the spending, that’s what the video is about. And Obama is the winner on that one. He’s spent more money in one year than Bush did in 3. And the projections show no end in sight to the deficit or an unsustainable debt.

    We have no more money. We must cut spending. We cannot borrow any more. We are printing money to pay down our own debt.

  18. I am not at all sure that is what history shows.

    Getting rid of the wars will be a big help with spending. No one seems to want to count the wars. Iraq was costing a billon a week there for a while.

  19. Elena

    Mazel Tov Slowpoke!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I hope Mrs. Slowpoke had a beautiful birth and will have an easy recovery. Wow, so exciting! Are you willing to share more details, weight, length, did Slow Jr. have hair???

  20. SlowpokeRodriguez

    7lbs 9 ozs. 19.5 inches. Had hair. Mrs. Had no tearing and doing fine. But what really blew me away, the boy latched and breast-fed like a pro from the second attempt on! And I was only too happy to change his first dirty diaper myself.

  21. Emma

    @SlowpokeRodriguez I love it! Best wishes to you and your family, Slow. You sound like a great dad!

  22. Need to Know

    Congratulations Slowpoke! I had a simlar experience not too long ago and know how you feel.

    I wish I could have contributed more to this thread but am still down because of Stewart’s latest shennanigans.

    The debt is a vast issue that involves the U.S. role in the world as well as domestic priorities. During the Cold War, I was among the most conservative advocates of containing Soviet expansion. Under Reagan (one of my heroes along with Teddy Roosevelt so be careful here) the debt did expand because Reagan had to come to an accord with Tip O’Neill and the Democrats. However, even the video you posted showed that growth of debt under Reagan was not as bad as we’ve seen recently.

    The Cold War is over and the U.S. needs to revisit its true place in the world the 21st century. I abhor the notions presented by the neo-cons and nation builders. The Cold War was about containing a genuine threat. Nation-building is about minding other people’s business and being hated for doing so. Moreover, we can’t afford it. Our current foreign policy, combined with massive domestic spending and entitlements is bankrupting us.

    It’s time we retrench from our self-appointed role as world guardian. This needs to be a much more collaborative process now with other nations sharing more of the decision-making, and costs.

Comments are closed.