Bush Ignores Record Debt: Pushes $150 Billion Package

January 19, 2008
Bush Ignores Record Debt: Pushes $150 Billion Package

WASHINGTON - President Bush said Saturday "the kind of spending projects that would have little immediate impact on our economy" should not be part of any stimulus package, setting the stage for a possible clash with Democrats.

Bush and the Democratic-controlled Congress are emphasizing their desire to work together as they rush negotiations on a short-term measure to prevent the economy from falling into recession. But while there is broad agreement that one-time tax rebates for consumers will be part of the package, there are different priorities at work for the rest of the measure.

Charge It to My Kids

October 7, 2007
Charge It to My Kids

Every so often a quote comes out of the Bush administration that leaves you asking: Am I crazy or are they? I had one of those moments last week when Dana Perino, the White House press secretary, was asked about a proposal by some Congressional Democrats to levy a surtax to pay for the Iraq war, and she responded, "We've always known that Democrats seem to revert to type, and they are willing to raise taxes on just about anything."

Yes, those silly Democrats. They'll raise taxes for anything, even — get this — to pay for a war!

And if we did raise taxes to pay for our war to bring a measure of democracy to the Arab world, "does anyone seriously believe that the Democrats are going to end these new taxes that they're asking the American people to pay at a time when it's not necessary to pay them?" added Ms. Perino. "I just think it's completely fiscally irresponsible."

Friends, we are through the looking glass. It is now "fiscally irresponsible" to want to pay for a war with a tax. These democrats just don't understand: the tooth fairy pays for wars. Of course she does — the tooth fairy leaves the money at the end of every month under Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson's pillow. And what a big pillow it is! My God, what will the Democrats come up with next? Taxes to rebuild bridges or schools or high-speed rail or our lagging broadband networks? No, no, the tooth fairy covers all that. She borrows the money from China and leaves it under Paulson's pillow.

Dollar Edifice Crumbling

September 24, 2007
Dollar Edifice Crumbling

U.S. national debt has almost doubled since the start of George W. Bush's first term as president. A lot of people will be looking to blame Bush and his brand of big government conservatism, as well as the unpopular war in Iraq, for the downtrend in the value of the dollar - on which attention has been strongly refocused in the wake of the recent rate cut.

And things are likely to get pretty bad for a while once the dollar's slide turns into a rout, as at some point it will; such is the nature of markets. There was always the possibility that the sub-prime mortgage crisis and associated economic damage – leading to last week's rate cut - would be the trigger, but that hasn't happened so far.

US Comptroller General: Learn from Fall of Rome

August 14, 2007
US Comptroller General: Learn from Fall of Rome

The US government is on a 'burning platform' of unsustainable policies and practices with fiscal deficits, chronic healthcare underfunding, immigration and overseas military commitments threatening a crisis if action is not taken soon, the country's top government inspector has warned.

David Walker, comptroller general of the US, issued the unusually downbeat assessment of his country's future in a report that lays out what he called "chilling long-term simulations".

These include "dramatic" tax rises, slashed government services and the large-scale dumping by foreign governments of holdings of US debt.

Your Tax Cuts At Work

Your Tax Cuts At Work
August 4, 2007

The Bush Debt

February 15, 2007

The Bush Debt

$3,000,504,566,250.46
(over $3 trillion)