Eight years in office, a $10.6 trillion debt

President Bush did not double the debt. Only Congress has Constitutional authority over national debt. Last time I looked, this debt increase happened when the Democrats held both houses of Congress.

U.S. Constitution, Section 7: All bills for raising Revenue shall originate in the House of Representatives; but the Senate may propose or concur with Amendments as on other Bills. Section 8, Powers of the Congress: To borrow money on the credit of the United States Please get off of the blame. It is dividing this country. The people trust the Congress less than the President and the media less than the Congress.

The GOP shattered its moderate voter base with 8 years of utter economic incompetence. All that's left are the Joe and Josephine Six Pack Palin fans and diehard evangelicals wedded to yesterday's culture war issues.

No personal responsibility in America. Government driven by great minds of the democrat party in Congress control all so forget about personal responsibility and productivity.

Republican Bush in offfice for eight years. Republicans controlled Congress for six of eight years. Republicans have destroyerd the American economy with it's disasterous, harmful policies. Obama will follow Clinton's successes and once again make America the best in the world. All we need to do is NEVER vote a Republican into office ever again.

Anytime or anyone says any critical about GWB its the biased, liberal media thats skewing the facts! GWB and his supporters need to take resposibility for the many failures of the last 8 years. GWB is a total failure. history will show this to all future generations

"The epitaph of the Reagan presidency will be: 'When Ronald Reagan became President, the United States was the largest creditor nation. When he left the presidency, we were the world's largest debtor nation.'" --Lester Thurow, MIT professor of economics *********************************************** "[A] lapse into fiscal indiscipline on a scale never before experienced in peacetime." --David Stockman (Reagan's budget director) describing the 1980's, The Triumph of Politics: Why the Reagan Revolution Failed ******************************************* "In the Reagan years, more federal debt was added than in the entire prior history of the United States." --Richard Darman (Reagan advisor), Who's in Control? Polar Politics and the Sensible Center ********************************************* "Reagan's theory was really 'trickle down' economics borrowed from the Republican 1920s (Harding-Coolidge-Hoover) and renamed 'supply side.' Cut tax rates for the wealthy; everyone else will benefit. As Reagan's budget director David Stockman confided to me at the time, the supply-side rhetoric 'was always a Trojan horse to bring down the top rate.' Many middle-class and poor citizens figured it out, even if reporters did not." --William Greider, magazine article, "The Gipper's Economy" ************************************************* The destruction of America starts with Reagan. Right wing christians and conservative republicans have compromised the future of this country. Reagan said deficits don't matter Cheney and Bush believed the nonsense and proceeded to bankrupt this country.

What sickening and irresponsible fiscal incompetence! This comes from politicians thinking only of getting reelected and being unwilling to take the long view on the effects of skyrocketing federal budget deficits. Previous commenters have validly pointed out that Congress approves the budget. However, the President must lead on this, and not once did he ever submit a budget to Congress that even tried to balance the budget or even lower the rate of increase in government spending. In addition, GWB never has even shown any plan to get the budget balanced in the future. Truthspeaker1, you've pointed out a number of issues with respect to Republicans. But your candidate shows absolutely no indication to do any better. In fact, Obama and the new liberal Congress show every inclination to spend far more than Bush ever did. What plan do the Democrats have to end deficit spending and fix the upcoming entitlements time bomb? They have none. Their plan is a lot of fuzzy, wishful thinking that if they redo the New Deal, somehow magically the federal government's budget woes will fix themselves. Both parties, when it comes to fiscal management, are bound at the hip in driving the nation off a cliff. Damn them all!!!

Jaeger wrote: Truthspeaker1, you've pointed out a number of issues with respect to Republicans. But your candidate shows absolutely no indication to do any better. In fact, Obama and the new liberal Congress show every inclination to spend far more than Bush ever did. **************************************** Deflation, Deflation that is the big threat hanging over this economy. Obama will have to spend initially to keep the economy inflated, deflation would be 10 times worse than inflation, both conservative and liberal economist agree stave off deflation now and and there are no guarantees they can hold deflation off, you can right the economy and start paying down the national debt.Which would entail increases in taxes(tax and spend democrats)there I said it for you. Inflation they know how to deal with, deflation once it gets started where will it end.

soxconn wrote: U.S. Constitution, Section 7: All bills for raising Revenue shall originate in the House of Representatives; but the Senate may propose or concur with Amendments as on other Bills. Section 8, Powers of the Congress: To borrow money on the credit of the United States Please get off of the blame. It is dividing this country. The people trust the Congress less than the President and the media less than the Congress. *********************************************** soxconn is implying that the Congress was in controll of the Democrats and were to blame. Fact: Reagan: 1981 - 1987 Republicans controlled the Senate. Fact: Bush: 2000 - 2006 Republicans controlled both houses of Congress. That dog will not hunt. It is funny how conservatives try to apportion blame. It seems it is always the other guy who did it.

Say it loud Jaeger....damn them all. Both major parties deserve equal blame.

WOW! The feds have, in spite of my protests, dumped $35K of debt on my head. This, more than any other single issue, is why I'm a recovering Republican. The Libertarian philosophy of gov looks better every day.

Truthspeaker1, The mathematics of Obamanomics don't add up. Barack Obama can't continue the war in Iraq, beef up the Army and Marine Corps, expand federal student aid, increase infrastructure spending, bailout all of Wall Street, bailout Detroit, expand veterans' benefits, increase foreign economic aid, increased the duration of unemployment benefits, expand federal entitlement spending, and further expand the war in Afghanistan --- all of these things and ever expect to balance the budget or even arrest the rate of its increase. Obama's Big Change is to push deficit financing to a level far, far beyond even GWB --- who in Republican terms went way off the reservation long ago. For a while, with all of this debt, things may seem to get better, but they will not stay that way. All of this debt will have to be paid off, and the overall effect of this is going to be an impoverished future America. It's too bad for them that they, the next generation, can't vote on all of this. Since they can't and since we, their parents, won't or cannot advocate for their resources, they, after all, the easiest constituency in America for our rapacious politicians to fleece and pillage via this orgy of deficit spending. Even if Obama gave a damn to do so (which he does not), the liberal Congress will not let him every try to balance the budget or control spending. Your belief that his economic and bailout programs will lay even a weak basis to control government spending are as deluded as the Republican belief that tax cuts in a time of war would somehow boost economic growth so much that the deficit would decrease. The mathematics are simple. The government either needs to spend less, cut entitlements, get more money by raising taxes, or do some combination of these to get the budget under control. Anything else is just a huge load of cult-like fantasies.

xtc409 - With a Republican president for 100% of the last eight years and Republican controlled Congress for 75% of the last eight years, that means you can thank the Republicans for $30,625 of that "dump" on your head, and only $4,375 to the Democrats!

Jaeger - "The mathematics of Obamanomics don't add up. Probably true, but still better math than anything Bush and/or McCain have to offer. Higher taxes (a key you noted) that may be necessary to offset eight record setting deficit years are off the table and trickle down economics don't work. There's nothing left in the Republican playbook.