National Debt
... a row. There was a tiny non-Social Security of $1.8 billion in fiscal 1999, and a larger surplus of $86.6 billion in 2000, at a time when the economy was in overdrive with the lowest unemployment rates in 30 years. These two surplus years did little to offset the cumulative deficits totaling $3,649.2 billion or $3.6 trillion of just the past 20 years. In fiscal 2001, the budget returned to deficit territory with non-Social Security deficit of $33.5 billion. Far more alarming is the face that the United States government ended fiscal year 2002 on September 30 with a skyrocketing deficit of $318 billion! The increased national debt resulting from the deficit of 2002 alone is more than 30% as many dollars as were added to the debt during the first 200 years of our history. As many know, national debt decreased from 67% to 57% in Cliton’s Presidential years. Bush wasted no time in reversing this progress and is now forecasting that he will achieve the highest ratio of debt to GDP in 50 years in his 2nd term in office. President Bush sent Congress a $2.4 trillion election-year budget featuring big increases for defense and homeland security but also a record $521 billion deficit. The president declared that his spending blueprint, which will set off months of heated debate in Congress, "advances our three highest priorities" winning the war on terror, strengthening homeland defenses and boosting the economic recovery. The Bush Administration asked for a $800 Billion permanent increase in Debt Ceiling. In December 2001, the Bush administration announced that it would be forced to ask Congress to increase the $5.95 trillion federal debt ceiling in order to avoid a breach in which the Bush administration asked Congress to raise the debt limit by $800 billion. Bush Treasury Secretary tapped Government Retirement Funds to avoid debt limit ...