Bush borrowed more than all previous presidents combined

The results are in - during the past two terms of the Bush presidency, borrowing from foreign governments and institutions has surpassed that of all the past 42 presidents … combined. Since the start of his first term in 2000, Bush has borrowed $1.05 trillion dollars, compared to the combined $1.01 trillion total borrowed by every president since 1776.

The Blue Dog Coalition, a group of 35 moderate to conservative democrats from the 109th Congress hailed for their centrist, common-sense approach to fiscal issues facing the US, has taken an interest in the Bush budget, expressing their distaste with his current borrowing practices and characterizing them as “astounding”. In February of this year, the BDC proposed a 12-step plan to Congress devised to lower the deficit and lessen the growing US dependency on foreign institutions. The plan, described by Blue Dog Co-Chair for Policy Jim Cooper (D-TN) as “the most significant package of reforms ever introduced”, requires, among other things, that a rainy day fund be established in the case of natural disasters, that Congress put a limit on spending, that they tell taxpayers how much they’re spending, and that they make sure new bills fit the budget.

However, borrowing from foreign governments and institutions is not the only change in fiscal policy that has increased the national deficit. The BDC also plans to address within Congress issues such as the growing dependency on Social Security.

In 1983, Congress, as part of an agreement to save Social Security, passed legislation that would, ultimately, increase payroll taxes and reduce benefits. The excess money gained from these reforms would be placed in a “lockbox,” as Gore appropriately labeled it during his campaign for presidency in 2000, and would later be used to fund benefits for retiring baby boomers, as there would be more people collecting from social security than paying for it. Unfortunately, the plan never worked. Giving Bush some credit, every president since 1983 (when the legislation was enacted) has spent the surplus.

However, as part of Bush’s platform during the 2000 presidential elections, he agreed with Gore’s “lockbox” principle and promised to follow it if elected. This declaration never made it past the podium. Within his first three budgets, Bush and Congress used $480 billion (approximately $160 billion per year) of the Social Security surplus to fund basic government operations. For this term, the administration plans on spending an additional $990 billion of the surplus for the same purposes.

On top of depending on the Social Security surplus at a time when there is a growing fear of the institution failing, Bush has sliced off a portion of the money our government could be using to pay off the deficit and fund government operations by cutting taxes. Taxes should account for roughly 20% of government spending; however, with the tax cuts, this percentage could easily drop. Social security now accounts for an astonishing 40% of the budget, while another 40% comes from those foreign institutions.

President Bush is not guilty of generating budget spending policies that are a new addition to the deficit problem. However, he is guilty of contributing to the deficit more than any other president because of the extent of his spending. Along with the deterioration of governmental institutions like Social Security, the lack of a financial cushion for a “rainy day” or a national crisis (i.e. Katrina) has lead the US to a state of growing dependency on not only foreign sources of money, but also our own earmarked surplus. All the evidence points to the same conclusion: the current administration has become a group of big, rather than wise, spenders.