How long has America been in debt for? How much worse is Bush making it?

Answer 1

The last time the national books were zero-accounted was about 1830 or so. And Bush is destorying our ability to ever recover.

But it's not much so much Bush (the guy REALLY IS pretty dumb) as it is his Jewish staff-cadre that is forcing his decisions. Would you believe that we are actually borrowing money on a long-term basis to give to Israel each year? --Actual fact.

And we have given Israel (conservatively estimated) $105 billion since 1948 through 2000 and that isn't counting military aid and a lot of other freebies not on the books. Just the DIRECT aid alone--see website quoted below.

(All those smart-bombs Bush just had rushed to Israel a few days ago? They cost form $250,000 to $1.2 million apiece and that will NEVER show on the books--direct or indirect.)

Our nation is on the edge of bankrupcy and insolvency.

Answer 2

The Clinton Administration paid off all our debt and had a surplus and balanced budget.

Bush came in and wiped that all out...the country is over 8 trillion dollars in debt...a record! Theres ONE thing that W will be remembed for!!

EDIT: The National Debt has continued to increase an average of
$1.65 billion per day since September 30, 2005!

Answer 3

The US has been in debt for most of its existence. From the time of our founding, it has been assumed that a small amount of "public" debt was beneficial for governments and international trade. If the US was out of debt, the dollar would be so valuable no other nation could afford to trade with us.

The small debt and deficit was standard for everyone but began to explode in the 1980s. We can blame presidents only a little bit. The real culprit is the 1960s shift from Zero Balance Budgeting to what we now use, Current Services Budgeting. Under Zero Balance budgeting, Congress determined each year what agencies it would fund and exactly how much they would get. This allowed them to de-fund bureaus or freeze their size/services. Under Current Services Budgeting, Congress got lazy. They now assume each agency has to exist and there is a formula for figuring how much each one will grow in the current budget cycle. So, departments never shrink in size or disappear, they just keep growing. The government gets greedier with each passing cycle as pet projects turn into massive bureaucracies.

While I don't agree with Bush's expansion of the government, he is actually not contributing that much more than any other president at this time. In the future, the Dept of Homeland Security will become a money pit unlike any other bureau.

Answer 4

America has been in debt ever since the Libs came up with Social Security, and Bush isn't making it worse at all. Check the numbers.

Answer 5

There are two components of America's debt time-bomb: the national debt and the current accounts trade deficit.

The national debt: When President Bush took office in 2000, the projected surplus for the U.S. government for the next decade was approximately $5 trillion. By fiscal year 2005 the surplus was entirely gone and the annual domestic deficits were at record levels, somewhere in the range of $350-450 billion depending on whose estimates you use. This is the most radical reversal of government finances in U.S. history. Today the national debt is approximately $7.9 trillion, and growing by over a billion a day.

The current account trade deficit: In the last 25 years America has gone from the world's largest creditor nation to the world's largest debtor nation. Today we rely upon foreigners to finance over 40% of our national debt. In fiscal year 2005 our current account trade deficit is on track to be almost $700 billion, which represents over 6% of our GDP. When America borrows from abroad to finance its domestic deficits, we give foreigners a claim to the financial assets of this country through either interest payments or a share of profits. Essentially America has been borrowing from abroad to finance our military buildup and war in Iraq. Should we continue to run current account deficits comparable to those now prevailing, the net ownership of the U.S. by other countries and their citizens a decade from now will amount to roughly $11 trillion.

Answer 6

Once again another person blames the president for the actions of the congress. Who makes up the budget and dishes out money they do not have? It is not the president but the Congress. Someday Americans may get smart enough to put the blame in the right place. Cutting down on foreign aid and pulling out of the UN could save loads of money. Both those avenues have proved worthless to us anyhow so why not use that money for something we can get results from.

Answer 7

Philadelphia and Washington DC have statues of Haym Salomon the banker that loaned money to the Continental Army during the Revolutionary War.

Two hundred thirty years ago it was a private bank loaning money to America. Now it is the World Bank, not so private and controlled by the Skull& Bones.

Answer 8

He has spent the money we had saved and put us in huge debt.
But he has had a lot to deal with (war) and at the current rate that we are coming out of debt we will be in better shape than during the Reagan years.

Answer 9

Actually since day one. There have times with higher and times with lower, but per Business 101, debt is a fact of life. Not much different that your own personal situation. Do you owe credit cards, mortgage?

Answer 10

Since Bush took office!