Reason #18: Bush’s Debt Bomb

“A billion here and a billion there, pretty soon you are talking about real money.” -Everett Dirksen, former U.S. Senator

When Bush ran for the presidency in 2000, one of the ways he tried to enhance his “outsider” status was by talking a big game about how he was going to get federal spending under control. What a crock that turned out to be. His pledge of fiscal discipline would be laughable if his recklessness weren’t jeopardizing our children’s future.

In 2000, our country’s national debt was around five and a half trillion dollars. Not exactly a small sum, by any means. But by the time Bush leaves office, we will be nearly $10 trillion in the red. That means Bush and his administration have added more money to the national debt than every U.S. administration from George Washington to George Herbert Walker Bush combined.

To add insult to injury, back in 2000 the government was running large fiscal surpluses every year. Budget forecasters predicted that by 2010, those surpluses would be enough to get almost the entire national debt off our back. In other words, we could have finally stopped being a debtor nation and returned to being a strong lender nation again. But instead, we’re in worse trouble than ever.

Where in the world did all that precious money go? Yes, we’ve had terrorist attacks, two wars, and hurricanes Katrina and Rita. But even if you add all that together, it doesn’t come close to nearly $5 trillion extra. The answer is simple: Bush slashed revenues by cutting taxes, but he and Congress didn’t rein in spending to offset those cuts. Instead, they spent like our country has never spent before, acting like eighteen-year-old heiresses with new platinum Master Cards.

NEXT: Reason #19: Voodoo Economics Reborn