Bush Deficit vs Projected Obama Deficit

Image Credit: Washington Post

Excerpt from the Heritage Foundation:

President Obama has framed his budget as a break from the "failed policies" of the Bush Admin istration. Actually, his budget doubles down on President George W. Bush's borrow, spend, and bail out policies. For example:

• President Bush expanded the federal budget by a historic $700 billion through 2008. President Obama would add another $1 trillion.

• President Bush began a string of expensive financial bailouts. President Obama is accelerating that course.

• President Bush created a Medicare drug entitle ment that will cost an estimated $800 billion in its first decade. President Obama has proposed a $634 billion down payment on a new govern ment health care fund.

• President Bush increased federal education spending 58 percent faster than inflation. Presi dent Obama would double it.

• President Bush became the first President to spend 3 percent of GDP on federal antipoverty programs. President Obama has already in creased this spending by 20 percent.

• President Bush tilted the income tax burden more toward upper-income taxpayers. President Obama would continue that trend.

During his presidential campaign, President Barack Obama promised the American people a "net spending cut."1 Instead, he signed a "stimulus" bill that spends $800 billion, and he has proposed a budget that would:

• Increase spending by $1 trillion over the next decade;

• Include an additional $250 billion placeholder for another financial bailout;

• Likely lead to a 12 percent increase in discretion ary spending;

• Permanently expand the federal government by nearly 3 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) over pre-recession levels;

• Raise taxes on all Americans by $1.4 trillion over the next decade;

• Raise taxes for 3.2 million taxpayers by an average of $300,000 over the next decade;

• Call for a pay-as-you-go (PAYGO) law despite offering a budget that would violate it by $3.4 trillion;

• Assume a rosy economic scenario that few econo mists anticipate;

• Leave permanent deficits averaging $600 billion even after the economy recovers; and

• Double the publicly held national debt to over $15 trillion ($12.5 trillion after inflation).