Americans Are Still Paying for Decades of Deficits

[obby]

Americans Are Still Paying for Decades of Deficits

While pundits debate the significance of deficits, a comparison shows that neither party, Republican nor Democrat, seems to worry too much about them while occupying the White House.

The Palm Beach Post compared how much red ink the last eight administrations racked up and how much impact the inherited debt still has.

* Lyndon Johnson's five years cost us $44.8 billion, $1.63 billion of it in 2004.

* Richard Nixon rang up $67.1 billion over six years, with a cost of $2.2 billion in 2004.

* Gerald Ford's two years cost us $126.9 billion, $4.6 billion this year.

* Gas line king Jimmy Carter bequeathed $226 billion, with $8.1 billion in 2004.

* Ronald Reagan's two full terms created a $1.24 trillion deficit, $48.2B of that hitting this year.

* George H.W. Bush's one term gave us a deficit of $933.4 billion, costing $33.6 billion in 2004.

* Bill Clinton's eight years left behind a $320 billion deficit, $11.5 billion this year.

* George W. Bush is so far trailing his father, but not by much: $926 billion, with $33.3 billion being felt in 2004.

That's over $143 billion Americans are paying this year alone for the deficits of the last 40 years.

Of course, Congress - whether controlled by Democrats or Republicans - ultimately controls Uncle Sam's purse strings.

And it has been a critical culprit in assisting these Commanders-in-Chief.

[jtk4]

The deficit is overblown in my opinion. People look at the number and say holy shit that alot, but when we make a shit load of money every year its not a big deal.LIke it said somewhere else it was less the 4% of our gmp.

Shit i wish my deficit was that small. I think i am running a 75% deficit

[italia23]

Shit i wish my deficit was that small. I think i am running a 75% deficit

lol.. me too