OBAMA -- DEBT CEILING 2006 VS. 2013


OBAMA' POSITION ON DEBT AND THE CEILING HAS CHANGED SINCE 2006

US Senator, Barack Obama in a speech on the Senate floor March 16, 2006

Mr. President, I rise today to talk about America's debt problem. The fact that we are here today to debate raising America's debt limit is a sign of leadership failure. It is a sign that the US Government can't pay its own bills. It's a sign that we now depend on financial assistance from foreign countries to finance our government's reckless fiscal policies.

Over the past 5 years, our federal debt has increased by $3.5 trillion to $8.6 trillion. That is a “trillion” with a “t.” That is money that we have borrowed from the Social Security trust fund, borrowed from China and Japan, borrowed from American taxpayers. And, over the next 5 years, between now and 2011, the President's budget will increase the debt by almost another $3.5 trillion.

Numbers that large are sometimes hard to understand. Some people may wonder why they matter. Here is why. This year the Federal Government will will spend $220 billion on interest! That is more money to pay interest on our national debt than we'll spend on Medicaid and the State Children's Health Insurance Program. That is more money to pay interest on our debt this year than we will spend on education, homeland security, transportation, and veteran's benefits.

Our debt also matters internationally. My friend, the ranking member of the Senate Budget Committee, likes to remind us that it took 42 presidents 224 years to run up $1 trillion of foreign-held debt. This administration did more than that in just 5 years. Now there is nothing wrong from borrowing from foreign countries. But, we must remember that the more we depend on foreign nations to lend us money, the more our economic security is tied to the whims of foreign leaders whose interest might not be aligned with ours.

Increasing America's debt weakens us domestically and internationally. Leadership means “the buck stops here.” Instead Washington is shifting the burden of bad choices today on the backs of our children and grandchildren. America has a debt problem and a failure of leadership. Americans deserve better.

I therefore intend to oppose the effort to increase America's debt limit.

Senator Barack Obama, 2006 on the Senate floor.

What changed from 2006 until today? Why does debt not matter now? Why does Obama want unlimited borrowing capability now with no debt ceiling? Why was an increase in debt by $3.5 trillion from 2001 to 2006 a big problem, but and increase of $6+ trillion during Obama's reign of 4 years not matter? Hint: It's different for Imperial presidents. They have unlimited power over their subjects.

Why do the media and print press not hold Obama accountable for his dishonesty, his hypocrisy or anything else?

 Printed from the Wall Street Journal Notable and Quotable January 17, 2012.

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