Obama’s $1 Trillion Birthday Present

Ellen Corman / August 05, 2009

President Obama celebrated his 48th birthday yesterday, but instead of being showered with gifts, he handed the American people the biggest present of all: one trillion dollars in new debt.

Since Obama was inaugurated in January, the national debt has grown over one trillion dollars to a whopping $11.669 trillion. In contrast, it took 2.5 years to add $1 trillion in debt during the last administration.

And this “gift” to the American people doesn’t even include the costs of other legislation Obama would like to pass, such as cap and trade or health care reform. Over the next decade, the President’s current budget plan (which is to be updated within the next two weeks), would cause the debt to reach 80% of the economy—a level not seen since WWII. (more…)