National Debt Skyrockets Under Bush Administration
November 19, 2004 11:24 AM
Since September of 2003, the national debt of the United States has been climbing at a rate of $1.6 billion dollars per day. The current national debt stands at a record high of $7.4 trillion dollars. More precisely, the debt stands at $7,448,740,925,278 as of this writing.
Due to the unchecked spending of the Bush administration, Congress voted last night to raise the national debt ceiling by $800 billion, setting the U.S. debt cap at $8.18 trillion.
When George W. Bush took office in 2001, the national debt was holding at $5.8 trillion. In the four years since that time, debt has climbed by over $2 trillion. For comparison, during the two terms of the Clinton administration, our debt only climbed by $1.4 trillion over the eight years. During the one term presidency of George H.W. Bush, debt climbed by $1.2 trillion.
Many argue that the increased debt of the U.S. is responsible in the decline in value of the dollar. Weak values on the dollar may lead to inflation and higher interest rates therefore damaging the economy even further.
In the past, Republicans stood for smaller, more efficient government. During the reign of the Bush family, these values have obviously been set aside in order to protect the president from criticism and political harm.
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