The National Debt, Deficit Spending and Total Federal Spending: The Real Facts and Numbers Part 1.

 Since the National Debt seems to be the subject of the media and some pundits, the real story should be told so people can understand the facts.  The real story has been told in PolitiDose commentary for the past 12 years so it is time once again to explain the facts.  The national debt was not a problem at the end of President Carter's last fiscal year when it ended on 9/30/81 when it came in at $997 billion, that is less than one trillion dollars. 

The explosion in the debt came during the administration of Ronald Reagan and at this writing the national debt stands at $40 trillion.  Listed below are the administrations that followed President Carter and what took place with the debt on their watch during their fiscal years.  The federal government's official records are kept on a fiscal year that begins on October 1 and ends on September 30.  The listings are in the order the President served.

At the end of Reagan's 8 fiscal years, the debt was $2.857 trillion, an increase of $1.895 trillion for a whooping increase of 186% in the national debt.  It took the nation over 200 years to reach a national debt of less than a trillion dollars and only took the Reagan administration 8 years to add $1.895 trillion to the debt.

At the end of George H.W. Bush's 4 fiscal years the national debt was $4.411 trillion, an increase of $1.554 trillion or an increase of 54% in the national debt.  

At the end of Bill Clinton's 8 fiscal years, the debt was $5.607 trillion, an increase of $1.395 trillion or an increase of 31% in the national debt.

At the end of George W. Bush's 8 fiscal years, the national debt was $11.909 trillion, an increase of $6.402 trillion or a 105% increase in the national debt.

At the end of Barrack Obama's 8 fiscal years the national debt was $20.2 trillion, an increase of $8.2 trillion for a 69% increase in the national debt.

At the  end of the Donald Trump 4 fiscal years the national debt was $28.4 trillion, an increase of $8.2 trillion for a 41% increase in the national debt.  (Trump's first term)

At the end of Joe Biden's 4 fiscal years the national debt was $37.8 trillion, an increase of $9.4 trillion for a 33% increase in the national debt.

Note:  Trump's first fiscal year of his second term ends this month on 9/30 and the national debt has already increased $2.2 trillion.   President Clinton reduced federal spending every year his first four fiscal years and then balanced the federal budget the last 4 fiscal years and his budget surpluses exceeded his deficits by $62 billion.  Clinton also paid down $400 billion on the national debt.  None of the other Presidents accomplished that.

The record clearly indicates that both parties are responsible for the increases in the debt but that the democratic party does the better job of controlling the debt.  The Clinton, Obama and Biden administration all completed their last fiscal year with a smaller federal deficit than the one left to them by the previous administrations.  All four republican administrations completed their last fiscal year with a larger federal deficit than the one left to them by the previous administrations.  President George W. Bush was the first President to have a single year federal deficit that topped $1 trillion.  His last fiscal year's budget deficit came in at $1.4 trillion.  President Trump was the first President to have a single year fiscal deficit of a $2 and $3 trillion federal deficit when his third fiscal year deficit came in at $3.1 trillion and his last fiscal year deficit came in at $2.7 trillion.  No democratic administration had a single year deficit that hit the one trillion dollar mark.  All 7 administrations had to deal with a number of negative issues.  

The record also indicates that President Clinton when leaving office, left the Bush administration 4 straight years of budget surpluses and the Bush administration turned those surpluses into deficit spending in his very first fiscal year and every one of his 8 fiscal years.  Those deficits are what President Obama had to deal with.  All four republican administrations gave the U.S. an economic recession that began on their watch.  No economic recession began on the watch of the three democratic administrations.  Reagan, Bush and Trump cut taxes for you know who that was supposed to help balance the budget but never did in all of the 24 years they served.   Clinton raised taxes on those same folks and the nation's fiscal house was in better shape on his watch.  

President Reagan started the fairy tale that the democratic party are the big spenders and the media ate it up and has run with the fairy tale ever since.  Conservative opinion writers are still trying to sell that same fairy tale but it won't wash with the facts.  The below list tells the readers the amount of deficit spending on each President's watch.

Reagan 8 fiscal years of deficit spending       $1.4 trillion.

Bush 41 4 fiscal years of deficit spending      $1.03 trillion

Clinton 4 fiscal years of deficit spending      $496.5 billion.

Bush 43  8 fiscal years of deficit spending     $3.5 trillion.

Obama 8 fiscal years of deficit spending    $6.5 trillion.

Trump 4 fiscal years of deficit spending         $7.5 trillion.

Biden 4 fiscal years of deficit spending           $6.4 trillion

Note:  President Obama's last fiscal year budget deficit was $666 billion and that is what Trump inherited.  On the other hand, Trump's last year fiscal deficit was $2.7 trillion and that is what Biden inherited .

The following lists the percentage increase in the national debt on each President's term in office.

Ronald Reagan, the national debt increased186%

George W. Bush, the national debt increased 105%

Barrack Obama, the national debt increased 69%

George H.W. Bush, the national debt increased 54%

Donald Trump, the national debt increased 41%

Joe Biden, the national debt increased 33%

Bill Clinton, the national debt increased 31%

No matter what way one looks at the numbers and the facts, democratic administrations did a better job on governing the economy and the country's fiscal house.  The record also indicates that democratic administrations passed on to republican administrations that followed a better hand fiscally than the republican administrations passed onto the democrats.  Part II will be about total federal spending and that will also illustrate how democratic administrations did a better job at controlling federal spending.

This commentary written by Joe Lorio

Note:  All numbers used above taken from the historical records of the CBO, the White House Office of Management and Budget and the Treasury Department.

The SpaceX Project in Louisiana, Governor Jeff Landry, Government Officials and Their NDAs of Corruption.

 The Government approved NDAs related to the SpaceX project in Louisiana referred to in a Times Picayune article dated 8/28 is just additional proof of the corruption of the republican party and the business sector.  They do not want the people of Louisiana (the taxpayers) to know what the state is giving away to Leon Musk's project in Vermillion parish.  It is a secret they would like to hide even though it includes the public's tax dollars.

It is nothing new and follows President Trump's love of NDAs to keep the public in the dark.  It is also confirmation why the GOP tax cuts under Reagan, Bush 43 and Trump favored the wealthy and corporations, they are never satisfied.  Does anyone really believe Elon Musk and his huge business holdings cannot afford to build his SpaceX project without tax breaks and still make a healthy profit?  It is the usual con game that the GOP and the business community use.

Jeff Landry and the State sold out the people of Vermillion parish for jobs his policies could never create under the normal process of selling what the state has to offer.  And one thing can be certain if SpaceX is successful, that in time, the environmental damage to Vermillion parish will be great.

This commentary written by Joe Lorio

The LSU Kickoff Is A "Wait and See" Football Season In Tiger Stadium.

Their opponent will be the same as last season's opponent, the Tigers from Clemson.  LSU won that game and ended their 5th straight opening game loss.  LSU will start the season under new head coach Lane Kiffin and all eyes will be on him.  There will be one exception, this writer, whose eye will be on defensive coordinator Blake Baker and the defense.

This season will be Baker's third year as defensive coordinator and this writer believes school is still out concerning his capabilities based on LSU's defense performance the last two seasons.  It was an on and off defense that indicated progress, then regression and one reason LSU ended the regular season with a 7-5 won-loss record.  We know all about quality players, but quality and performance are two different things.

It is just another reason why this writer rates LSU's new season as a "wait and see season."

This commentary  written by  Joe Lorio 

 

Under President Trump and the GOP controlled congress, The U.S. Economy Still Continues to Regress.

 The failure of the U.S. economy continues to play out in Trump's 19th month in office since his re-election.  It is not anything new for Trump and his party as their past record on the economy represents failure.  And once again, the media and those who support and voted for Trump and his party continue to lie and misrepresent the economic facts.

The Labor Department reported the economy lost 23,000 jobs in July and job creation is at a standstill, a regression from the Biden administration's job creation record.  Soon after that information was released we learned that inflation for July came in at 3.4% higher than the same period of last year.  In President Biden's last full month in office in December 2024 inflation was 2.9%, very close to the range of 2% the Federal Reserve Bank uses as their guideline on inflation.  So, inflation is up in Trump's first 19 months in office.  

Then on August 8, 2026, the Federal Reserve Bank's data center reported wages and salaries are roughly 43% of GDP in the first quarter of 2026, the lowest since the great depression over 90 years ago.  Then just this week, the CBO projected that the federal budget deficit that ends 9/30/26 (Trump's first fiscal year budget) will end with a deficit of $2.1 trillion.  That would be Trump's 3rd fiscal year deficit of $2 or more trillion dollar deficits.  The first two came in  his first term in office when the deficit hit $3.1 trillion in his 3rd fiscal year and then $2.7 trillion in his last fiscal year.  Trump is the only President in history to have accomplished that.  He also holds the record of having accumulated total deficit spending of $7.5 trillion in his first four fiscal years in office.

Past PolitiDose commentary has predicted correctly what would take place on the Republican watch because of precedent, the history of their failed record on the economy and fiscal matters.  The con game by Trump, his party and those who choose to believe the con, enabled the lies, misinformation and the personal attacks.  They also did not care that Trump is a convicted criminal, sexual abuser and a convicted fraudster.  

The November election will allow the voters to change the direction of the country for the good of the people, because that is what government is all about.  In the mean time, stay tuned to PolitiDose, your daily dose of political commentary.

This commentary written by  Joe Lorio

Finally, It Is Admitted, College Players Are Now Pro Players.

 In a Times Picayune/New Orleans Advocate article dated 8/13/26 staff writer Jon Blau and LSU's head coach Lane Kiffin let it be known that college players are now Pros because they are paid to play.  That statement was a little late since NIL started it all a few years ago.  The real story of college players going Pro has never yet been told because money has a way of confusing the issues.

College sports, especially football, has begun to follow the failure of Pro football namely, expanding divisions, conferences, playoffs and other venues that make the sport less competitive.  College has already expanded the playoff system and is talking about another expansion already.  Money will control college sports more than ever now and disaster will follow.  

College teams play the same amount of games and have the opportunity to win a division or a conference and the winner should go to the playoff.  Those runner ups had the same chance to win but did not, so they do not deserve to be in any playoffs with a second chance.  The playoffs should be restricted to the teams who have won something. 

Anything less is a prescription for  disaster.  And that really says it all.

This commentary written by Joe Lorio 

  

What Will The 2026 Football Season Bring For The LSU Tigers???

 It starts September 5 in Tiger stadium against the Clemson Tigers with LSU's new head coach Lane Kiffin.  He will be LSU's third head coach in the last seven seasons.  So, what will the new season bring?  We know that Kiffin is a winning head coach, but so was Brian Kelly.  We know that LSU has made the CFP only one time in the last 11 years.  We know that the past 6 seasons were a wait and see thing, that LSU fans waited and did not like what they saw.

So how will the Baton Rouge sport's writers project what will take place this year with another new head coach?  We know they are already looking at LSU's third game of the season when the Tigers travel to Oxford, Miss., to play Kiffin's former team, Ole Miss.  Whatever takes place in that game, will be no indication how successful LSU's future under Kiffin will be.  As usual in sports, the hype of the game will take center stage over the game itself. 

This writer in past PolitiDose commentary predicted before the last 4 seasons started under Kelly that those seasons would be a wait and see affair and those four seasons turned out to be just what took  place.  Now we have the start of a new season with a new head coach on the sidelines.  That could change things, but will it?  It is only a question now but time will tell the real story.  This writer is not excited yet, so I am looking at another wait and see football season for the Tigers.

This commentary written by Joe  Lorio

The U.S. Economy, Job Creation and the Unemployment Rate for July 2026.

 The U.S. Labor Department reported the economy lost 23,000 jobs in July and that the unemployment rate came in at 4.1%.  it was the second month this year that the economy lost jobs.  In the first 7 months of the year a total of 547,000 jobs has been created for a monthly average of 78,142, a pitiful number and in line with Trump's economic problem of job creation.  The department also announced that unemployment would have been higher but people dropped out of the job market and the Department does not count them as being unemployed. 

Comparing Trump's 7 months in his second year compared to Biden during the same period of time you will find that in July 2022, 528,000 jobs were created and the unemployment rate was 3.5%.  In Biden's first 7 months total job creation was over 3 million.  

At this  point in time, Trump has served as President a total of 5 years and 7 months and job creation during that time stands at a negative 2 million plus jobs.   Not only a pitiful job creation record, but the only President to lose jobs since Herbert Hoover during the great depression.  The Department also announced that wages increased 3.2% in July over July of last year, the lowest increase since 2021 during COVID.

\The above picture will never be told by the news media, Trump, his party or the so called business news hours of  several networks who are telling everyone the economy is booming.   So, stay tuned to PolitiDose, your daily dose of political commentary.

This commentary written by Joe Lorio

 

The Economic Numbers for the Month of June and the Second Quarter GDP for 2026.

 Inflation for the month of June came in at 3.5% higher than the previous month of June 2025.  It was 2.9% in President Biden's last full month in office in December2024.  The inflation numbers continue to go up in the first 18 months on Trump's watch in his second term and no relief in sight.  Although the inflation cycle began on Biden's watch, it also came down considerably before he left office.

At the same time, the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis reported, the lowest level of teens in America not in the work force hit the lowest level ever in June 2026 at 105 million.  That number even surpassed the numbers of the great recession and the COVID era.  That is just another piece of evidence why Trump and his policies are a big failure at job creation.  

The third piece of economic information that tells the story of a weak economy was released by the Commerce Department that the second quarter GDP grew at an annual rate of only 1.5%, far below what was predicted by the so called economic experts.  Instead, they are bragging about the stock market that does not create jobs for the economy and very well may lose value in due time.  

The business shows on Fox News, CNBC and other networks were, with their hosts, predicting a booming economy for the second quarter and the balance of the year even though there was no evidence so far of that booming economy.  It is part of the BS, mis-information and outright lies they project to influence the public and push Trump and the GOP's agenda.

What is taking place with the Trump economy was all predicted in past PolitiDose commentary and before Trump even took office.  It could be predicted because of precedent of Trump and past GOP administration failures on the economy.  (See PolitiDose commentary dated 3/19/2021 Titled, "Presidential Leadership:  The economy and fiscal matters, the last 40 years.")

This commentary written by Joe Lorio

Under President Trump and The Republican Party in Congress, American Democracy is No Longer Stable.

 Through thick and thin, wars, protest, natural disasters, political turmoil and other disturbing events, democracy in America stayed stable.  The pillars of democracy, the constitution, the bill of rights, law and order, the checks and balances, the separation of church and state were taken seriously by former Presidents and the congress over the past 200 plus years of American history. 

Then along came Donald Trump who served one term as President and was elected to a second term in office in 2024.  In between those elections, he became a convicted criminal, found liable in a court of law for sexual abuse, found guilty of fraud and attempted to overturn the 2020 Presidential election he lost with a riot mob.  Trump started his second term by adopting a policy using lies, mis-information and personal attacks to divide the people and the nation, then assaulted our American institutions, the constitution, the courts, law and order and everything and anything democratic that was good for America.  And in a number of court cases, Trump's orders were found to be illegal and or unlawful.  Trump's agenda can be understood as an attempt to destroy democracy as we know it and replace it with his own brand of one man rule where he answers to no one.  

The republican party who control both houses of congress surrendered their responsibility to Trump and allowed him to do whatever he wishes to do.  They too are responsible for enabling Trump's thirst to destroy American democracy.  Trump and his party are laughing at those who supported the lies, mis-information and Trump's con game slogan of MAGA.  

An unstable American democracy feeds chaos, division, hate, intolerance and a reckless disregard for our constitution and the rule of law.  And that is what is taking place in America today under the Trump administration and the GOP in congress.  Those who still support Trump and the GOP are on the wrong side of history.  They played the political con game with Trump and lost.  As a result, the November elections are more important now than ever before.  In order to start the restoration of a stable American democracy, voters should elect a democratic controlled congress to lead the party in the future.  The democratic party has it's faults but always governed a stable American democracy and has a record to back it up.

A democratic congress in the future will not allow Trump to continue on the path he has chosen to destroy and destabilize America's democracy that has served the U.S. so well for the past 200 plus years.

This commentary written by Joe Lorio

The Foolishness of Louisiana's U.S. Senators Bill Cassidy and John Kennedy.

 Fools must like to make fools of themselves, especially if they are republicans and serving in congress.  And that is what Bill Cassidy and John Kennedy did with their comments published in the Times Picayune/New Orleans Advocate dated 7/28 by staff writer Mark Ballard concerning the war with Iran when they said the following.

(1)  It's time for the President to explain the purpose, strategy and off-ramp.  (2)  Have a national dialog where the President comes to the people, comes to congress (and) where congress helps make a tough decision.  (3)  Trump or one of his top advisors should in a speech or long press conference explain what is going on in Iran.  Why we went in and why we are still there.

By their own admission, Cassidy and Kennedy still do not know the purpose of the war, the strategy or the off-ramp but still support the war that has taken the lives of 18 Americans and wounded over 600.  Cassidy, Kennedy and their party control both houses of congress and has the authority to hold the President accountable for his actions and failed to do so.  Now, five months later, they now have questions.  

Could the fool's motive be the upcoming November elections?  They are aware that the GOP could lose at least one house of congress to the democratic party and although Cassidy will be gone after the elections he is still a republican and has voted with Trump's agenda 90% of the time.  They also know that the democrats in congress raised the same questions about the war long, long ago, while the fools and the GOP were silent.

The article mentions the war in Iran started in February 2026, but the media and the GOP have it all wrong.  The war really started in June of 2025 when Trump ordered the attack on Iran.  It was an un-provoked attack and Trump announced the attack obliterated Iran's nuclear capability.  However, a week later, our intelligence community announced otherwise, mission was not accomplished.  Trump's threats against Iran continued throughout 2025 and then in February 2026, Trump restarted the war that Cassidy, Kennedy and the people still don't know the purpose.  And once again Trump said he was going after the nuclear program he said was obliterated.  So the war is a continuation of what started in 2025.

Louisiana's two senators and the GOP controlled congress surrendered their responsibility to the convicted criminal President Trump long ago.  They choose to be his fools instead and America and it's people are paying the price, especially our men and women in uniform.

This commentary written by Joe Lorio