Clinton vs. Bush vs. Obama

Now, let me be the first to say that I think the people of the United States have been the victims of some outrageous spending by their elected officials on both sides of the aisle. Anyone who truly believes that one party bears more blame then the other has been drinking way too much kool-aid.

Look at the flat out pork in all of these budgets and stimulus bills and you will see R’s and D’s all over the place. So let’s stop with the political nonsense. It’s our wallets they are stealing from.

But I have also heard a lot of comments being made about life under President Clinton and that Administration running a “surplus,” while President Bush has been vilified for getting us into the current mess by engaging in out of control “spending.” This is simply disingenuous.

Under President Clinton, we had a surplus in the yearly budget, however that does not constitute a surplus in our actually "bank account." Basically it is like mom and pop sitting at the table. They have their income, their needs, their debt and their savings. So they come up with a yearly budget and be as thrifty as they can. They actually do well and don't spend as much as they bring in. They even make payments to their outstanding credit cards (debit). However, that does not have a bottom line affect on their savings.

Some people hear the word surplus and fail to realize that we are talking two different animals. We still had trillions in debt, it's just that we were now making payments against that debt because we were spending less than we took in. While that was fiscally prudent and something we all need to do, it’s far different then painting a picture of us being a nation with a surplus in our savings under the Clinton Administration.

Also remember that when Clinton took office in 1993 after Bush Sr. had taken a huge hit based on the economy. However, the Democratic party held majority in both the Congress and the Senate since 1987 (starting with the 100th Congress). He came in with a full majority. Then in 1995 the people threw up their hands over some less than stellar ideas by the Dem's and gave the Republicans control in both houses for the first time since the 1950’s.

So, if Clinton gets credit for a surplus, where is the credit for the Republicans who passed The Balanced Budget Act of 1997, and was signed into law on August 5, 1997. This was an omnibus legislative package designed to balance the federal budget by 2002.

If memory serves me correctly, our national debt was at 5 ½ trillion when President Bush took office. During President Bush’s tenure the Debt increased by about 4 Trillion dollars. Many scream about such outlandish and wasteful spending, but is it real ? In reality, Bush only added about $2 trillion to the debt in 6 years while Republicans were in control through the end of 2005. This while recovering from the attacks of September 11th and also engaged in two wars.

From 2006 through 2008 the Democrats were in full control and the debt went from $7.6 trillion in 2006 to over $10.5 trillion at the end of 2008.

Now we are a little over a month and a half into the new Obama administration with a Democratic controlled majority and we are now faced with adding another $3.6 trillion to the debt.

I don't want this to come off sounding like a rah rah post for the Republicans. Personally I think both parties are piss poor administrators of OUR money. What bothers me is the political sniping that seems to muddy the waters and cause people to think along party lines instead of in black & white truths.

Since 1938 the Democrats have held the White house for 35 years, the Republicans for 36. Over that time the national debt has increased at an average annual rate of 8.5%. In years Democrats were in the White House there was an average increase of 8.3%. In years the Republicans ran the White House the debt increased an average 9.2% per year. If you want to squabble over .7%, you need to find someone else.

But I believe it is time for us to tell out elected officials enough is enough. It's our money they are wasting !!!!!!