United We Stand, Divided We Fall

The Pew survey of January 15-19, 2014 of a national sample of 1,504 adults shows that we as citizens are beginning to take the federal budget deficit for granted and not insisting that it be resolved. Remember, the current deficit for FY2013 is over $700 billion, $241 billion over that for FY2008, the last year of George Bush’s spendthrift Presidency. The current FY2014 deficit is projected to be $100 billion over that same figure. That deficit grows from there. President Bush started two wars and funded the Drug benefit for seniors under Medicare and decreased taxes. He was the most fiscally irresponsible President we have had to that point and doubled the deficit in his two terms. President Obama makes Bush look like a fiscal conservative as he had tripled the deficits run by Bush in his first term and will more than double the US debt before he is through. The interest on that debt will begin to crowd out our other priorities as interest rates rise to more normal historical levels. To make this point clearer, Bush in 8 years increased out debt more than all the other Presidents combined before him. Obama will one up Bush by increasing our debt more than all the other Presidents combined before him including Bush. What a sorry fiscal performance we have from our last 2 Presidents. This fiscal madness must stop. We deserve better. Our children and grandchildren deserve better. Sadly, we will be paying for this. The price we pay will depend on whether we address the issue now or wait until it gets worse. At some point it will become unmanageable and unbearable. Let us hope we taken action now. The choice is ours.
Harry Pukay-Martin