National Debt Up $2 Trillion on Obama's Watch

AP

The latest posting from the Treasury Department shows the National Debt has increased over $2 trillion since President Obama took office.

The debt now stands at $12.6 trillion. On the day Mr. Obama took office it was $10.6 trillion.

President George W. Bush still holds the record for the most debt run up on his watch: $4.9 trillion. But it took him over four years to rack up the first two trillion dollars in debt. It has taken Mr. Obama 421 days.

But the Obama Administration routinely blames the Bush Administration for inheriting a budget surplus and turning it into years of record-breaking deficits and debt -- and then leaving it on the doorstep of the new president.

"I walked into office facing a massive deficit, most of which was the result of not paying for two wars, two tax cuts, and an expensive prescription drug program," Mr. Obama said last month in a speech to corporate executives at a Business Roundtable conference.

"When we walked in, we had a deficit of $1.3 trillion and projected debt over the course of a decade of $8 trillion," he told the CEOs on February 24th. "The lost revenue from this recession put us in an even deeper hole. And the steps we took to save the economy from depression last year have necessarily added to the deficit -- about $1 trillion, compared to the $8 trillion that we inherited."

The most the administration says it can do is try to slow the growth of the National Debt - but its own forecasts show it doesn't look promising.

In the 2011 federal budget released last month, the administration projects the National Debt will soar ever upward to over $25 trillion in the year 2020. The total debt will amount to more than 100 percent of the national economy as early as 2012.

Mr. Obama frequently argues that one of his reasons for seeking to overhaul health care coverage in America is the costs it imposes on the government. He says "the status quo on health care is simply unsustainable."

He warns that if his health care plan is not enacted, "our government will be plunged deeper into debt."

In the belief that politicians lack the resolve to make the tough decisions needed to reduce annual deficits and slow the growth of the debt, the president signed an Executive Order last month creating a National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform to recommend steps the government can take to balance the budget by 2015 - excluding interest payments on the National Debt.

Mr. Obama set a December 1st deadline for the Commission to vote on its final report.

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Mark Knoller is a CBS News White House correspondent. You can read more of his posts in Hotsheet here. You can also follow him on Twitter here: http://twitter.com/markknoller.

[rohitfly]

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i think obama reduce debt of usa people

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[martinageo]

I appreciate the concern which is been rose. The things need to be sorted out because it is about the individual but it can be with everyone.The initiative taken for the concern is very serious and need an attention of every one. This is the concern which exists in the society and needs to be eliminated from the society as soon as possible.
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[pbrindel]

Bush started January 20, 2001, and the national debt was $5,727,776,738,304.64.

When he left January 20, 2009, the national debt was $10,626,877,048,913.08.

It tripled under Bush.

Most of his tenure, he had a Republican majority in House and Senate.He told us that tax cuts would pay for themselves - they didn't.

Get over yourselves.

[TallyHoh]

Solution: 50% cut in all government agencies for everything from jobs to paper clips.

[baileyccc]

Look no further than the incompetent Bush and Cheney for this debt. The entire economy was tubing because of their ineptness. posted by baileyccc

[KIMBERLYSUF]

Will people ever quit blaming and start questioning? Why aren't people scared that we're put into debt that can't be paid back without drastically changing the future? It seems obvious the stimulus stimulated gov. more than private entities, just as the healthscare scheme; --- when will people wake up, WE THE PEOPLE have to take care of ourselves, do the research, and find answers. Some in the current administration have admitted they are progressive, and some have a history of supporting socialistic ideals. The healscare bill is full of mandates; it was written by questionable people, known to be socialists, or worse, and little, if any reform is in the bill. This administration is expanding and embracing its ties with some unions/SEIU,ACORN, and other entities that convey themselves as good, when they are truly evil. Are we going to talk to our representatives about the cr*p getting dumped on us, or let the gov. take care of us ? after all, you can't fight the government ? they are smarter than us, they have a gift, and there but for the grace of God. Let them tell us what's acceptable ? we have better things to do, like pay taxes, and union dues, but don't have to worry about union dues ? they're taken out automatically; (and unions would love card check, to make it easier for you to get a union) just like the nearly bankrupt Social Security ? we really need more smart people to take care of us. It seems the socialists see a window of opportunity ? and some of us are going to be feeding ourselves mind candy, believing everything we hear and see on TV and radio. Isn't socialism wonderful.

[Joutue]

By Jontue march 18, 5:53 PM

It looks like Obama is letting wallstreet run things for him. Answering to their ceo's. It's about time that he forgets about wallstreet and does something good for mainstreet for a change. A good change.
For instance get rid of Ben Bernanke And Geithner their two of the peoples worse enemies.
And he should get his one track mind off healthcare and start a jobs revival
to help the country get back solid on their feet. Or go back to indonisia and stay there.

[etharrold]

27.
WHEN WILL EVERYONE REALIZE, THIS ONGOING CONSPIRACY (for over 100 yrs) IS COMING TO FRUITION FOR THE "PROGRESSIVES" !
Distract, divide, all are ploys of the ?Progressives?! They are rife in both parties and they have the same goals. COMPLETE CONTROL to turn this republic into an OLIGARCHY.
OUR APATHY has allowed them to use our tax monies to fund their agenda and with this HealthCare legislation they will have us so bound and restricted it will turn our lives into
government SLAVES. I hope to God we have not waited TOO LONG to stop this total
SUBVERSION OF OUR CONSTITUTION.

[etharrold]

27.
WHEN WILL EVERYONE REALIZE, THIS ONGOING CONSPIRACY (for over 100 yrs) IS COMING TO FRUITION FOR THE "PROGRESSIVES" !
Distract, divide, all are ploys of the ?Progressives?! They are rife in both parties and they have the same goals. COMPLETE CONTROL to turn this republic into an OLIGARCHY.
OUR APATHY has allowed them to use our tax monies to fund their agenda and with this HealthCare legislation they will have us so bound and restricted it will turn our lives into government SLAVES. I hope to God we have not waited TOO LONG to stop this total
SUBVERSION OF OUR CONSTITUTION.

[NowBeWithThat]

Eyes are beginning to open!

Pres. Obama will go down in history as the Great Undecider. The one-term POTUS who ran up such an enormous tab with his failed policies, generations of Americans will be paying for it.

When Mr. Obama took an adversarial stand toward Israel, it was the beginning of the end for him.