The Bush Administration’s Legacy -- Debt, Debt, & More Debt

After eight years of leadership by George W. Bush and Dick Cheney, consumers are up to their necks in debt and so is the nation.  As Senator Kent Conrad stated during a press conference in response to the mid-session review of the fiscal year 2009 budget, the US has become a nation that is "increasingly reliant on the friendship of strangers".

Click here to view the press conference held by Senator Conrad and Rep. John Spratt (D-SC)


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The Hill Blog» Blog Archive » Bush Administration's Legacy of Debt Will Have Lasting Consequences
(Rep.John Spratt)

The White House has released its last budget forecast, and even though it gets to write its own report card, the grades are not good. The bottom line: President Bush entered office with the biggest surpluses in history and leaves with the biggest deficits.

According to the Office of Management and Budget, the deficit next year (Fiscal Year 2009) will be the largest in history, $482 billion, in nominal terms; and the deficit for this year, Fiscal '08, at $389 billion, will itself come close to a record.

The five largest deficits in our nation's history have occurred on this Administration's watch. The largest so far, $413 billion in 2004, is notable because it shows the abrupt about-face in fiscal policy under this Administration, from a surplus of $284 billion when it arrived to a post-policy deficit of $413 billion.