Scott Eells, Bloomberg
It is interesting that many lament about our national debt but so few understand its source. Our current national debt is due mostly to the fiscal actions initiated by the Republican Party, starting with President Ronald Reagan in 1981. The national debt increased more under the Reagan administration than any other president. The debt exploded under the George W. Bush administration because of unfunded tax cuts, unfunded wars, an unfunded Medicare drug program and the recession. These costs added about $500 billion each year to the national debt, amounting to $4 trillion.
It is an undeniable fact that because of tax increases initiated by the George H. W. Bush and Bill Clinton administrations, our country prospered substantially. Under the Clinton administration our annual budget was balanced each of his last four years. Two of those four years there was a budget surplus, and it was projected by credible sources that by 2013 the national debt would be eliminated.
The Congressional Budget Office determined that the Bush tax cuts and unfunded wars added $500 billion to the national debt during 2009, and $700 billion every year thereafter during Obama's first term as president.
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