Debt has grown $3.5 trillion on Obama's watch

Vince Bucci

Just as President Obama signed and sent his annual Economic Report to Congress, the Treasury Department posted numbers that show the national debt has increased $3.5 trillion so far on Mr. Obama's watch.

On the day he was inaugurated, the national debt stood at $10.626 trillion. It had increased $4.9 trillion during President George W. Bush's eight years in office.

The posting today shows the debt at $14.128 trillion; that's a $3.5 trillion increase in the 25 months Mr. Obama has occupied the White House.

Budget numbers released last week show the national debt will top a $5 trillion increase at the start of Mr. Obama's fourth year in office.

"We need to rein in deficits after a decade of rising debt, and reform our government," the president writes in his economic message to Congress today. He calls deficit-reduction "the way to robust and widely shared prosperity."

He states that the "final step" in his economic game plan for "winning the future" is to make sure the nation isn't "buried under a mountain of debt."

"I've proposed that government live within its means while investing in the future," he says in his statement.

He again cites his promises to:

- veto any bill that contains earmarks.

- freeze a portion of domestic federal spending so as to reduce the deficit by $400 billion over five years.

But at the same time, Mr. Obama tells Congress it would "be a mistake to cut the deficit by gutting our investments in innovation and education."

Critics of the president's game plan say it doesn't come close to adequately reducing deficit spending and the national debt.

In fact, the president's budget last week projects the federal deficit will hit an all-time high this year of $1.645 trillion. That exceeds the total of all the debt run up by the U.S. government from its inception through 1984.

The budget projects a $1.1 trillion deficit in 2012 and then deficits in the range of $600 billion and $800 billion through the end of the decade.

The president says little about those numbers in his report to Congress.

There's not much his administration can do change them.

[tsigili]

You have to question, whether he is actually TRYING to destroy the American economy.

That would be one way to allow the takeover of America by a foreign power.

[bacaangel]

Oil Group, API, Starts Political Bribery, As Obama Admin Proposes To End $46 Billion in Tax Breaks!

"The American Petroleum Institute, the largest oil and gas industry trade group, will start backing political candidates this year as the U.S. considers repealing $46 billion in subsidies and imposing pollution rules." (Which would greatly aid U.S. economy!)

"The group, whose members include Exxon Mobil Corp. and Chevron Corp., would make donations separately from industry executives and employees, who gave $27.6 million mostly to Republican candidates for Congress last year, according to the Center for Responsive Politics in Washington. API has paid for advertising on policy issues and to lobby on legislation.

"This is adding one more tool to our toolkit," said Martin Durbin, API's executive vice president for government affairs, in an interview. "At the end of the day, our mission is trying to influence the policy debate."

The Obama administration is proposing to end tax breaks for energy companies and to limit greenhouse-gas emissions, actions the API says will cost jobs and cut domestic production as fuel costs rise. "

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-02-24/oil-group-starts-political-giving-as-congress-eyes-subsidies.html

(Another Example of Big Oil Buying Votes so that the Rich get Richer and the Poor get Poorer!)

[pragmatist1]

I guess this is OK because it was done by Mr. Obama. If Mr. Obama had been a Republican, the Democrats would have been clammoring for impeachment, demonstrating in the streets, gnashing their teeth and beating their drums.

[netjunkie1]

When the buble bursts,
Pennsylvannia Ave. will have some vacancies in the neighborhood as it will reflect more like Main Street as Wall Street continues it's war on the middle class of this nation formerly known as democratic.

[CarloCaraluzzo]

WOW!!!! According to CBS Obama spent more than $3 trillion in about a month. Last month, according to several CBS stories the debt was only just over $10 trillion. Now its $13 trillion. I guess they couldnt wait until he left office. Lets just puff up the numbers. No one will notice. By Memorial Day Obama will have spent more than God did building earth.
What a bunch of dopes Americans are.
IMAO!!!!
Just keep drinking this swill.

[El_Patriot]

Link the CBS stories you're referring to, you liberal piece of trash.

[RobAla]

"On the day he was inaugurated, the national debt stood at $10.626 trillion. It had increased $4.9 trillion during President George W. Bush's eight years in office.

The posting today shows the debt at $14.128 trillion; that's a $3.5 trillion increase in the 25 months Mr. Obama has occupied the White House."

President Obama has accelerated the deficit spending problem, and we are riding a runaway train. This crap has to stop. However, Reid and President Obama are against the tiny cuts that Republicans are trying to make. We need responsible leadership from the Whitehouse, but we may have to wait until 2012.

[Oneofthoseracists]

Amazing. Mr. Obama runs the debt up to record levels and manages to put the incompetent GW Bush to shame in only two years, and yet we have folks still trying to blame nincompoop #1 for nincompoop #2.

Perhaps another trillion in stimulus funds to 'shovel ready jobs'..errr..the public unions, will fix everything.

Hey I know, lets just print a 3.5 trillion dollars and it will be like Mr. Obama never wasted a dime of China's money....!

Anyone have $10 so I can get a loaf of bread?

[noloyalisti]

More than half the debt was due to the drunken sailor Bushoccio and his GOP Crime Family. All the best financial brains said we need to have more government spending to save the economy from the Second Great Republican Depression.

So it worked and now he needs to gut the money stealing by the military for corporate imperialism and end the illegal genocidal occupations of Iraq and Afghanistan.

[El_Patriot]

Indeed. When $10,000 is owed to a creditor, the best route to paying that debt off is to borrow $10,500 from someone else to pay it off. Meanwhile, even though I realize unions these days only serve the purpose of propping up the lazy and un-deserving people in the work force and drive American jobs over seas to avoid the economy-killing unions, I'm still going to support them because I'm democratic and my perspective is scewed by visions of rainbows and bunny rabbits in a non-existant perfect world.

[rmacgilv]

Obama has grown the debt by a third and he has driven up unemployment to absurd heights.This amateur will be gone in less than two years.

[noloyalisti]

Sorry, wrong facts again. Unemployment has gone down since the puppet clown Bushoccio left. When the clown left in 2008, we were losing 700,000 jobs per month. Obama created more jobs in his first year than Bushoccio did in 8.

[Oneofthoseracists]

Oddly unemployment was at 4.8% under Bush, but 'noloyalisti' will not let facts get in his way.

[vpcharan]

The debt grew by 10 Trillion dollars during 2001-2008 under GOP President and the Congress. Well, today is Sara Palin moment for Scott Walker, the Gov of Wisconsin. Walker got pranked today by a journalist posing as Mr. Koch similar to Sara Palin who also was pranked in Fall 2008 by a journalist posing as French President.
Sara Palin + Scott Walker = 2 Sara palins

[slownewsdayomewannagohome]

While I gave up God a long time ago, I never shook the habit of wanting to believe in something. So I replaced my creed of everlasting life with life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

- Sarah Vowell

To me, $100,000 debt per capita isn't "freedom".