President Obama celebrated his 48th birthday yesterday, but instead of being showered with gifts, he handed the American people the biggest present of all: one trillion dollars in new debt.
Since Obama was inaugurated in January, the national debt has grown over one trillion dollars to a whopping $11.669 trillion. In contrast, it took 2.5 years to add $1 trillion in debt during the last administration.
And this “gift” to the American people doesn’t even include the costs of other legislation Obama would like to pass, such as cap and trade or health care reform. Over the next decade, the President’s current budget plan (which is to be updated within the next two weeks), would cause the debt to reach 80% of the economy—a level not seen since WWII.
Although federal spending under the former administration was not exactly prudent, an interesting video helps demonstrate that if the rate of each President’s spending were converted to miles-per-hour, George W. Bush would have been driving at 63 mph, whereas Obama is driving at 174 mph. With spending at this rate, we are well poised for a dangerous high-speed economic wreck.
Instead of doling out birthday cake slices of debt, Congress and the President should focus on reforming the way government spends taxpayers’ money through fiscal restraint—especially for the benefit of future generations, who will be forced to pay for this over-the-top birthday present, plus interest.
