National+Debt

Under President Bush, almost $4.5 Trillion was added to the national debt, making it about $10.0 trillion. When Bush took office in 2000, the national debt was $5.6 trillion. Many of Bush’s policies added to this number. The Bush tax cuts and $700 billion TARP plan cost the government trillions of dollars and the Iraq and Afghan Wars also cost massive amounts of money. Bush signed bills to help with AIDS and Malaria in Africa. These bills pledged $15 billion to this cause. Because President Bush ran on the campaign slogan of compassionate conservatism, his spending became a subject of massive criticism.
 * [[image:cartoon2.jpg width="347" height="420" align="right" caption="This cartoon from the 1934 Chicago Tribune shows how spending today relates to history."]]National Debt **
 * George W. Bush **

President Obama continued President Bush’s trend of spending. In his first year in office, the debt climbed to $11.9 trillion, adding two trillion to the debt in one forth his time as president. Obama began passing expensive bills, and continued the corporate bailouts. For example, Obama passed a one trillion dollar stimulus bill to help stabilize unemployment. His spending did not stop here, however. In addition to the stimulus bill, Obama wanted to pass a healthcare reform bill, claiming it would eventually save the nation money. The bill was eventually defeated in the Senate. Because of thes size and nature of these projects, Bush and Obama's spending was related by many to the spending of Franklin D. Roosevelt during the Great Depression. The Congressional Budget Office projects that America will be forced to borrow $9.3 trilliion dollars over the next decade to handle the massive deficits, or differences between debt and revenue. 
 * Barack Obama **