Bush Administration Breaks Record

[tex]

http://www.dccc.org/stakeholder/archives/003836.html

Posted by jesselee

Thursday, November 3, 2005 at 2:12 PM

A release from John Tanner (D-TN)...

Bush Administration Breaks Record

Administration Borrows more from Foreign Nations than Previous 42 Presidents Combined

Washington, D.C. - President George W. Bush and the current Administration have now borrowed more money from foreign governments and banks than the previous 42 U.S. presidents combined.

Throughout the first 224 years (1776-2000) of our nation's history, 42 U.S. presidents borrowed a combined $1.01 trillion from foreign governments and financial institutions according to the U.S. Treasury Department. In the past four years alone (2001-2005), the Bush Administration has borrowed a staggering $1.05 trillion.

"The seriousness of this rapid and increasing financial vulnerability of our country can hardly be overstated," said Rep. John Tanner (D-TN), a leader of the Blue Dog Coalition and member of the House Ways and Means Committee. "The financial mismanagement of our country by the Bush Administration should be of concern to all Americans, regardless of political persuasion."

The Blue Dogs have long expressed tremendous concern over mounting U.S. debt and are particularly troubled by our growing dependence on foreign governments to finance our debt. Earlier this year, the Coalition offered a 12 Step Plan to cure our nation's addiction to deficit spending. The Blue Dog plan required, among other things, that all federal agencies pass clean audits, a balanced budget, and the establishment of a rainy day fund to be used in the event of a natural disaster.

"No American political leadership has ever willfully and deliberately mortgaged our country to foreign interests in the manner we have witnessed over the past four years," continued Rep. Tanner. "If this recklessness is not stopped, I truly believe our economic freedom as American citizens is in great jeopardy."

[iheartskins]

Is that in current dollars or in constant dollars?

[tex]

Good question.

[iheartskins]

tex,

I checked out the guy's page and I didn't see anything make reference to which one it was. I'd be pretty surprised if it were anything other than current dollars. There's just no logical way that we could have created more debt in the last 5 years than in the entire 220-odd year history of this country. That figure reeks of selective reporting.

[Ignatius J.]

My guess is this is more junk. I'd bet almost every president has borrowed as much as several previous presidents combined.

[portisizzle]

tex,

I checked out the guy's page and I didn't see anything make reference to which one it was. I'd be pretty surprised if it were anything other than current dollars. There's just no logical way that we could have created more debt in the last 5 years than in the entire 220-odd year history of this country. That figure reeks of selective reporting.

No comment on the subject. Just my congratulations on becoming a moderator. :applause:

[iheartskins]

No comment on the subject. Just my congratulations on becoming a moderator. :applause:

Thx 'izzle.

[tex]

Give the political fallout sure to befall Congressman Tanner for issuing a grossly misleading statement I will have to guess that the figures given are in constant dollars.

No matter how you look at it, saddling our offspring with a trillion more dollars of debt is immoral. Even worse is the constant carping that something must be done to "fix" social security. How ironic that the bulk of the trillion dollars just added to the debt was created by borrowing so called surplus funds from the non-existent social security trust fund.