US debt has almost doubled under Obama

by NW Spotlight

“Our debt is now bigger than China’s entire economy.”

A government report released yesterday revealed the national debt has shot up from 40% of the economy at the end of 2008 to 70% at the end of this year. The report, the Congressional Budget Office’s (CBO) 2011 Long-Term Budget Outlook, also noted that this kind of spending growth will cause the federal debt to grow to unsustainable levels.

Under the more optimistic CBO scenario, the federal debt held by the public (does not include debt held by the federal government itself) would grow from 69% of the economy this year to 84% in just under 25 years. Under their more realistic scenario, the debt would exceed the size of the entire economy within 10 years, and would come close to doubling the economy in less than 25 years.

The options outlined by the CBO are: “increase revenues substantially as a percentage of GDP, decrease spending significantly from projected levels, or adopt some combination of those two approaches.”

On the heels of the CBO’s budget report, Stuart Varney of the Fox Business Network, reported that “Our debt is now bigger than China’s entire economy.”

Democrats controlled both houses of Congress from 2008-2010, as well as the White House. They still control the US Senate and the White House, and the Republicans now control the House of Representatives. Democrats took control of both houses of Congress in 2006, two years before the end of George Bush’s second term.

The current US debt is $9.7 trillion. That doesn’t include debt held by the federal government itself, which is another $4.6 trillion, bringing the total public debt to $14.3 trillion. The current US economy (GDP) is $14.8 trillion.

When President Obama took office on Jan 20, 2009, the US debt was $6.3 trillion; debt held by the federal government itself was $4.3 trillion, bringing the total public debt at the time to $10.6 trillion. The total US economy (GDP) in mid-2008 was $13.9 trillion.

Additional Resources:

US Treasury TreasuryDirect – The Debt to the Penny and who Holds It

US Debt Clock