Debt Ceiling Debate

On July 23, 2011, an editorial was published in the New York Times that was accompanied by these charts. The charts are from the Congressional Budget Office; Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. I'm not one to take these types of charts as gospel (meaning, I trust they are generally correct, but acknowledge slight variations in actuals). I was not only stunned, but seriously pissed off.

In looking at chart A, you can see where the surplus started and how it quickly left the nest in 2001. Had we been continuing on the path set for us by Clinton, our surplus could have soared into the 1 trillion dollar range in the last year. However, if you now glance at chart B, you can clearly see where and how the surplus left us. The single biggest chunk of dollars was lost through the Bush tax cuts, followed closely behind by defense spending (including two wars).

The GOP cannot continue to blame this debacle on the current administration and in the same vein, the Dems cannot continue to pander to the bullies on the playground. Can someone get me a spittoon - because I'm so mad that I could use one at the moment.

Chart A:

Chart B:

Tritch, T. (2011, July 23). How the deficit got this big. The New York Times. Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/24/opinion/sunday/24sun4.html?_r=1