A Little Perspective on the Debt Ceiling

Here is a chart of the history of the debt ceiling which I think shows a lot.  Sorry, it's a little low resolution, but I'm sure you will get the idea:


I've added the blue blocks showing the Presidencies of Reagan and the two Bushes.  Reading off the graph, I calculate that, of the total 14.3 trillion currently allowed, 12.3 trillion was added by Reagan and the Bushes.  This is fully 86% of the total national debt, piled up by these three cynical liars, while they constantly preached the gospel of fiscal responsibility to the American people.

And let's remember, when Democrats spend money it's on things like Social Security and Medicare, and on clean water and air, on safe food and on some control on renegade corporations.  When Republicans spend money, it's largely on wars and giveaways to the rich.

No Republican deserves a second of respect when they lecture us on a financial situation they deliberately, knowingly created.  Obama may be weak, but he is not a crook, and neither were Clinton or Carter.  Reagan and the Bushes were nothing but criminals who looted that $12.3 trillion on behalf of their rich benefactors.

By the way, if you haven't read the excellent comment by Mastercynic here, I suggest you do.  It adds another piece of history to this whole discussion.

Comments

Jerry Critter said…
It takes a Democrat to clean up the republican mess. Clinton brought Reagan's out of control spending under control. Bush II took off on a spending binge again. Now Obama, a Democrat, is once again cleaning up republican shit.
Poll P. said…
And yet we get the blame! Now that I'm beginning to understand how corrupted the press is, I think I understand how that happens!
Green Eagle said…
And of course, the ultimate example of Democrats cleaning up Republicans' messes- FDR, who people like Michelle Bachmann now feel free to accuse of having caused the depression, rather than ending it.
mastercynic said…
As unpopular as it may be on this forum, I have to lay much of the blame for where we are now on Clinton. He brought forth the popular "centrist" notion of government, which to me always meant a conciliatory approach to conservative corruption. His administration continued, rather than reversing, the deregulation of financial markets started under Reagan, and, it was under his administration that laws governing corporate consolidation of media were effectively abandoned.

Most of all, though, had he resigned his office when he should have, for an indiscretion that no matter how one characterizes it was far worse than a certain New York congressman's, Bush II would have been running against President Gore, and I can't help but think stealing that election would have been much more difficult than it was as events played out in 2000.
Item 1: Pretty graph, but it's built on a poor foundation. To have an intellectually honest graph, you'll want to plot the debt ceiling against the group in charge of raising the debt ceiling - the U.S. Congress. More particularly, since the responsibility is with the House of Representatives, plot House control versus debt ceiling. You won't be very enthusiastic about posting your results.

Item 2: Even though you missed the mark in issuing blame for the ridiculous increases in the debt ceiling, I whole-heartedly agree with your unarticulated premise. The bloating of the debt ceiling is unjustifiable, especially when sizable chunks of that debt are used to fund programs that are constitutionally outside the authority of the federal government. Both parties share blame for this.
Jerry Critter said…
What programs have found to be "constitutionally outside the authority of the federal government"? Name them!

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