The Budget Deficit: Not "a Deficit of Trust" but a Deficit of Leadership

During his State of the Union address, President Obama said Washington was suffering from a “deficit of trust.” Despite this lofty rhetoric, the President used much of the remainder of his speech to attack Republicans, the Supreme Court, and people concerned with his policies. Attacking the people you hope to win over and work with is no way to bridge divides or “pay down” the deficit of trust. Unfortunately, this kind of duplicity – saying one thing while doing another – such as giving lip service to coming together while acting in only the most partisan of ways has become a regular practice for this White House.

That is not the only way the President has failed to foster trust. Another way is by constantly blaming his predecessor for the “crisis” that he, Obama, “inherited” and for “record deficits.” This “blame game” was also present in the State of the Union when the President said: “One year ago, I took office amid two wars, an economy rocked by a severe recession, a financial system on the verge of collapse, and a government deeply in debt.” Blaming others won’t foster trust or address America’s challenges.

There is no question that President Bush made many poor policy choices. He let spending get out-of-control. Most notably, he failed to use all of the tools at his disposal – like vetoing big spending bills – but President Bush did not govern alone. Under our Constitution, Congress – and not the President – controls the level of Washington spending. During the last two years of the Bush presidency, in 2007 and 2008, Democrats Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid were running Congress. As a result, the deficits of 2007 and 2008 were not created solely on a Republican President’s watch. They were also created on the watch of a Democrat controlled Congress, which included Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, Speaker Nancy Pelosi, and then-Senator Obama. And, to the extent the economic crisis occurred on President Bush’s watch, it also occurred on the watch of Reid, Pelosi and Obama.

Understandably, President Obama wants the American people to ignore the fact his party controlled the House and the Senate in 2007 and 2008 and that deficits ballooned under his party’s leadership. Since January 2007, when Nancy Pelosi became Speaker of the House and Harry Reid the Senate Majority Leader, Congress has added more than $3.6 trillion to the national debt. $3.6 TRILLION IN JUST THREE YEARS! This represents more than 29.5 percent of the nation’s total $12.3 trillion debt. In 2009 alone, with Barack Obama as President, the nation’s debt has increased more than $1.46 trillion.

The following chart depicts the average daily increase in the debt during three periods: 2001-2006 (red column – when Republicans largely controlled Congress), 2007-2008 (green column – with Democrats controlling Congress), and 2009 (blue column – with Barack Obama as President).

From 2001 to 2006, the House majority was Republican, and the Senate majority changed hands several times (Democrats held the majority 593 days and Republicans 1,598 days). The nation responded to: an economic downturn, 9/11, Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, fought two wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, expanded entitlement spending (Medicare prescription drug bill), passed a massive education bill, and enacted two significant tax cut bills (in 2001 and 2003). As a result, from 2001 to 2006 the deficit increased by an average of $1.35 billion per day (an unacceptable amount).

In 2007 and 2008 – with the Democrats controlling the House and Senate – the budget numbers became even worse than they were from 2001 to 2006. During this time, Congress enacted much of the Democrats’ “Six for ‘06” election agenda, which has not been without its consequences, and then passed a stimulus bill (2008), the TARP bill, and a housing bailout bill. Spending by the Democrat Controlled 110th Congress caused the deficit to increase an average of $2.67 billion per day. That is nearly double the average amount from 2001 to 2006. This happened despite the fact Democrats had put in place the PAYGO budget rules that they promised would rein in the deficit. (This should put to rest any claim by Democrats that PAYGO is an effective budget tool).

So, as bad as the deficit numbers were the last time the Republicans ran Congress, the budget picture became worse under a Democratic Congress in 2007 and 2008. And the budget picture has become much, much worse since Barack Obama became President. Today, Democrats are exercising unchecked “power of the purse” (though credit-card may be more appropriate) and they haven’t been shy about spending. Democrats have enacted an expansion of SCHIP, cash for clunkers, tax “rebates” for people who don’t pay taxes, giveaways to people to buy houses, appropriations, a trillion dollar stimulus bill and are now proposing an expansion of health care entitlements and massive energy taxes in the form of cap and trade. With all of this, and despite a Democratic President and Congress that promised to “pay for” their spending, the deficit is growing faster now than ever before. This year alone, the deficit has increased by $5.01 billion per day!!! That is nearly 3.7 times more than the average from 2001 to 2006 when Republicans largely controlled Congress.

There are two takeaways for the American people from this.

First, this week’s debt limit increase was raised because of the policies and runaway spending of a Democrat Congress and Democrat President. The deficits of today belong entirely to Reid, Pelosi and Obama because they enacted policies in 2007 and 2008 that either increased spending or failed to curb spending.

Second, it is imperative for conservatives to come together and change the Republican Party. We have to send conservatives to Washington. We have to elect new leadership because America cannot afford big spending Republicans any more than we can afford big spending Democrats. Conservatives, independents, participants in the Tea Party movement must come together to elect representatives who have the will, and courage, to dramatically cut spending.

America’s future may well depend on the outcome of the 2010 election, an election that is fast becoming the most important election in our lifetime. If you want to make a difference, if you want to join the fight, click here.

Christopher Jaarda is an attorney with The John Hancock Committee for the States. His previous experience includes working as a legal counsel and policy analyst for the Republican Policy Committee, one of the key leadership offices, in the United States Senate. His experience includes tax, budget, legal and national security issues."