U.S. Pricetag of Freedom

$10.5 trillion debt under Bush/Cheney (up from $5 trillion under Clinton/Gore) was not caused by Barack Obama, but it will be his responsibility to fix.

This is the legacy of U.S. administrations for the past few decades. Figures for national debt are approximate.

• Reagan/Bush: $100 Billion to $1 Trillion = +$0.9 Trillion, +900%/8 years, +33.3% compounded annually
• Bush/Quayle: $1 Trillion to $4 Trillion = +$3 Trillion, +300%/4 years, +42.4% compounded annually
• Clinton/Gore: $4 Trilion to $5 Trillion = +$1 Trillion, +25%/8 years, +2.83% compounded annually
• Bush/Cheney: $5 Trillion to $10.5 Trillion = +$5.5 Trillion, +110%/8 years, +9.06% compounded annually

The absolute dollar increase is staggering, administration-over-administration. Already, the Obama administration will be locked into a rise of the national debt to at least $12 trillion by Federal FY 2010.

We’ll have to see what the new President and recently-elected Congress can do to reign in the cancerous growth of public debt.