The One Who Sank the U.S. Economy

Last Sunday, the Boston Globe published a fascinating statistic that the Democratic Party — if they still have some functional gray matter and, more importantly, what are referred to as “balls” in English — should publish on billboards across the country. The Boston paper revealed a table showing each president’s contribution to the national debt. The table is enlightening.

When Ronald Reagan arrived at the White House, the national debt was $1 trillion. When he left office, the debt had increased to $1.9 trillion. Then George H. W. Bush added (in just four years) $1.5 trillion. Bill Clinton raised the country’s debt by $1.4 trillion, Obama by $2.4 trillion.

George W. Bush is not included in the ranking; he is indeed in a class of his own. During his two terms of office he added the trifling sum of $6.4 trillion, which is 44.7 percent of the federal government’s total debt of $14.3 trillion. If we look at the last 30 years, half of the debt was accumulated in just eight years. How? With two absurd wars (one started on the basis of lies and the other one will end with the pointless deaths of American servicemen and the inevitable return of the Taliban) and two rounds of tax cuts for the wealthy.

And despite that, the Republicans, who should have lost all credibility and should be speechless with shame at having driven the country to ruin, are leading the game and dictating policy to the country they wrecked (we will not revisit the policy of the ex-oracle of the Federal Reserve, Alan Greenspan, today forgotten, who contributed in a large way to the current massacre).

For a long time, the debt represented between 40 and 50 percent of the GDP. Reagan increased the percentage by 20 points (from 33 to 53 percent), Bush Sr. added 13. Bill Clinton lowered it by 10 points to 56 percent of the GDP. Bush Jr.? He increased it by 28 percent to bring the debt to 82 percent of the GDP. Yet again, if we consider the last 30 years during which the proportion of the debt increased to 61 percent of GDP (32 to 93 percent today), the eight years of Bush Jr. alone contributed 46 percent of this debt increase.

During these eight years, did we witness a single demonstration by the supporters of the tea party protesting against the deficit and the national debt? The same people who call Barack Obama a “socialist” did not lift a finger nor say a word when George W. Bush raised the United States’ debt by 44.7 percent. Where was Michele Bachmann, who has been an elected member of Congress since 2000?

Let’s summarize. The party that fiercely opposed Bill Clinton’s policy, which led to a budget surplus; the party that came to power in 2000 in conditions hardly worthy of a banana republic, which deregulated like crazy and drove the world within several millimeters of the edge; it is this party that is forcing the president to accept a policy that will guarantee that millions of Americans will remain without work for at least another 15 months; this party that feels it still has something to say. As Michael Tomasky, a political journalist at Newsweek, wrote, “a football coach with a similar record would be selling cars. A movie director with one would be lucky to be making instructional videos. A bank president would likely be in jail.” In politics, it’s the complete opposite.