The GOP went on a debt orgy – and blames the Democrats for it

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

In case you have forgotten, Ronald Reagan tripled the national debt and George W. Bush doubled it. The New York Times presented this helpful reminder below.

Republicans want us to pretend that history began on January 20, 2009, with the inauguration of Barack Obama.

Once Again, in words and pictures, the New York Times tells the tale:

As I posted earlier about this chart, from Ezra Klein: A tale of two presidents and their deficits:

What’s also important, but not evident, on this chart is that Obama’s major expenses were temporary — the stimulus is over now — while Bush’s were, effectively, recurring. The Bush tax cuts didn’t just lower revenue for 10 years. It’s clear now that they lowered it indefinitely, which means this chart is understating their true cost. Similarly, the Medicare drug benefit is costing money on perpetuity, not just for two or three years. And Boehner, Ryan and others voted for these laws and, in some cases, helped to craft and pass them.

To relate this specifically to the debt-ceiling debate, we’re not raising the debt ceiling because of the new policies passed in the past two years. We’re raising the debt ceiling because of the accumulated effect of policies passed in recent decades, many of them under Republicans.

These two graphs from the Washington Post and the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities make that point crystal clear. Analyses by CBPP showed that the Bush tax cuts accounted for half of the deficits during his tenure, and if made permanent, over the next decade would cost the U.S. Treasury more than Iraq, Afghanistan, the recession, TARP and the stimulus – combined.

When it comes to the American balance sheet, "Republicans broke it. Now, they claim, Democrats own it." H/t Jon Perr at The Republican Debt Orgy in Pictures | Crooks and Liars.