The March 20 issue's editorial page said the issue of the week was the National Debt and invited two conservative opinion writers George Will and Cal Thomas, two long time Republican opinion writers who spout the GOP's talking points. This writer's question would be why would the editorial board do that when they have a staff to investigate such matters and can obtain the facts from the federal government's official records. Those who follow politics know the GOP blame the democratic party for over spending and therefore the national debt but the official facts tell the real truth and a different story. So why go to someone else opinion and not do the investigation themselves.
The following information concerning the national debt is as follows and taken from the official records of the Congressional Budget Office, The White House Office of Management and Budget, The Treasury Department and the Commerce Department. At the end of President Carter's last fiscal year, the national debt stood at $997 billion, less that one trillion dollars. Eight fiscal years later, at the end of President Reagan's last fiscal year, the national dept stood at a whooping $2.8 trillion. And that my friends started the explosion in the national debt. From 1981 to 2024, a total of 44 years that cover the administrations of Ronald Reagan, Bush 41, Clinton, Bush 43, Obama, Trump and Biden, the following increases in the national debt took place on each watch.
In President Reagan's 8 fiscal years the national debt increased 187%
In President George Herbert W. Bush's four fiscal years the national debt increased 54%
In President Bill Clinton's eight fiscal years the national debt increased 31%
In President George W. Bush's eight fiscal years the national debt increased 105%
In President Barrack Obama's eight fiscal years the national debt increased 70%
In President Donald Trump's four fiscal years the national debt increased 41%
In President Joe Biden's four fiscal years the national debt increased 33%
Other information that has an effect on the national debt follows: President Eisenhower was the last GOP President to balance the federal budget in 1960, that is over 66 years ago. Two democratic Presidents balanced 5 federal budgets during that same period of time. President Lyndon Johnson balanced one budget and President Clinton balanced 4 federal budgets.
Reagan, Bush 41, Bush 43 and Trump all completed their last fiscal year with a deficit larger than they inherited. Clinton left office with a budget surplus and Obama left office with a smaller deficit than he inherited. The largest single year federal deficit took place during Bush 43 last fiscal year when it came in at $1.4 trillion, the largest at that time. Trump's first term topped that twice when in came in at $3.1 trillion in his third fiscal year and then in his fourth fiscal year it came in at $2.7 trillion, both records that stand today. The Clinton administration paid down over $300 billion of the national debt. GOP administrations paid down zero.
Every GOP in the administration in the past 100 years has given the country an economic recession, democratic administrations do not have that problem. And the recessions that took place during Reagan, Bush 43 and Trump's watch took place at a time corporate America and the wealthy enjoyed the tax cuts by those Presidents. Those tax cuts were supposed to create jobs, balance the budget and create a great economy. They were financed by deficit spending which adds to the national debt. Clinton raised taxes on those same folks, balance the federal budget, created surpluses and created more jobs in just 8 years than Reagan, Bush 43 and Trump did in the 20 years they served.
It took the U.S. over 200 years to reach a spending budget of $1 trillion in fiscal 1987. It then took 15 years to reach a spending budget of $2 trillion in fiscal year 2002, Bush's first fiscal year. It then took 7 years to reach a spending budget of $3 trillion under President George W. Bush. It then took 9 years for President Trump to reach a spending budget of $4 trillion in his very first fiscal year. It then only took Trump two years to reach both a $5 and $6 trillion spending budget in his third and final fiscal year.
The official records tell us that it is the Republican party who are the drivers of deficit spending and the national debt and that the Reagan administration started it all. The American people will never be told the facts by the conservative media, their opinion writers and even many in the main street media. They just report the GOP lies and misinformation and go with the flow and have lost the mantle of their responsibility to inform the people of the truth. For the past 10 plus years, Politidose commentary has filled the void and told the real story. And if one follows the facts, the years after WWII up to the Carter administration, the same could be true of the GOP's pitiful record.
The Times Picayune/New Orleans Advocate is a GOP leaning media whose editorial page is dominated by so called conservative commentary. They fail to publish the facts and like the business world, the so called business news like CNBC and Fox Business News and GOP supporters will support the GOP and its lies no matter what. And it has become worse with President Donald Trump, a convicted criminal on 34 felony counts.
This commentary written by Joe Lorio
