By Scott Tibbs, February 1, 2013
Raising the debt ceiling does not authorize us to spend more. All it does is say that America will pay its bills. And we are not a deadbeat nation. -- Barack Obama, January 14, 2013
According to the historical tables on Barack Obama's website, the sum total of budget deficits from 2001 to 2008 was $2.133 trillion. The estimated total of budget deficits from 2009 to 2012 is $5.332 trillion. The total outlays of the federal government in 2005, 2006, 2007 and 2008 were $2.471 trillion, $2.655 trillion, $2.728 trillion, $2.982 trillion, respectively. The total outlays of the federal government in 2009, 2010, 2011 and 2012 were $3.517 trillion, $3.456 trillion, $3.603 trillion and $3.795 trillion, respectively.
If Obama is concerned about us being a "deadbeat nation" then he would get serious about cutting spending, which has gone up dramatically during his first term in office. It's not enough to whine about George W. Bush, Mr. President. The problem facing us needs to be solved and you need to take leadership in solving it.
We are a deadbeat nation under Obama, because we have passed over $5 trillion in debt onto future generations. Obama's plan is like a family living above their means for years under the guise of paying their bills, then dropping hundreds of thousands of dollars in debt on their children when they turn 18. It is simply irresponsible.
We are rapidly hurtling toward fiscal insolvency, and it is an unsustainable path. This is what the Tea Party movement has been warning about for the last four years - the point at which we cannot dig ourselves out of this hole. We have reached the point where it is probably impossible to ever actually pay off the national debt, but we simply cannot afford to continue to add over a trillion dollars to our national debt every single year!
Folks, this is insane. We need deep and dramatic cuts in spending. Unfortunately, it seems that no one in Washington - Republicans or Democrats - has the courage to do what must be done to save us from fiscal insolvency. We need real leadership and we are simply not getting it. Where have all the statesmen gone?
