United Liberty

During George W. Bush’s presidency, Democrats often complained that deficits were too high and that the national debt was growing out of control. Even Barack Obama, then a Senator from Illinois complained of the growing deficit. During a debate over raising the debt ceiling in 2008, Obama slammed Bush, calling the deficits under Bush “unpatriotic”:

The problem is, is that the way Bush has done it over the last eight years is to take out a credit card from the Bank of China in the name of our children, driving up our national debt from $5 trillion for the first 42 presidents - #43 added $4 trillion by his lonesome, so that we now have over $9 trillion of debt that we are going to have to pay back — $30,000 for every man, woman and child. That’s irresponsible. It’s unpatriotic.

There is no denying that Bush was a big spender, not just on defense, but also domestic programs. However, Obama’s preaching hasn’t translated into any action. And now, just in his first term, the national debt has increased more than under Obama the full eight years of Bush, as CBS News notes:

The National Debt has now increased more during President Obama’s three years and two months in office than it did during 8 years of the George W. Bush presidency.

The Debt rose $4.899 trillion during the two terms of the Bush presidency. It has now gone up $4.939 trillion since President Obama took office.

The latest posting from the Bureau of Public Debt at the Treasury Department shows the National Debt now stands at $15.566 trillion. It was $10.626 trillion on President Bush’s last day in office, which coincided with President Obama’s first day.

The National Debt also now exceeds 100% of the nation’s Gross Domestic Product, the total value of goods and services.

Of course, Obama complains about the two wars and Medicare Part D, both being on the Bush Administration. Those points are valid in some respect. But Bush didn’t force Obama to pass the $800+ billion dollar stimulus bill, the so-called “health care reform” law, or any of the bloated budgets that he got through the Democratic-controlled Congress during his first two years.

And none of this stopped Obama from saying on the campaign trail in 2008 that Americans would see a “net-spending cut” during his first term. That didn’t happen. It wasn’t going to happen.

I don’t like throwing around the word “unpatriotic,” but what are we to make of a president that comes into office and spends like there is no tomorrow? After all, that’s Obama’s own standard of patriotism.