"...Although Congress' approval of President Bush's request to increase the public debt by another $850 billion received scant national notice last week, it was consequential nonetheless.
By a 53-42 vote, the Senate revised upward the maximum amount of money the government can borrow to $9.815 trillion. That's expected to be enough to cover the Bush administration's final years in office, although no one should count on it. After all, the open-ended war in Iraq and Afghanistan may consume more taxpayer dollars than current projections.
Thus, a Republican president who inherited a budget surplus and campaigned on staying true to GOP conservative fiscal principles will leave office as the biggest national debt builder ever. Since Mr. Bush assumed office, the debt has nearly doubled. For most of those years, Republicans also controlled Congress.
By a 53-42 vote, the Senate revised upward the maximum amount of money the government can borrow to $9.815 trillion. That's expected to be enough to cover the Bush administration's final years in office, although no one should count on it. After all, the open-ended war in Iraq and Afghanistan may consume more taxpayer dollars than current projections.
Thus, a Republican president who inherited a budget surplus and campaigned on staying true to GOP conservative fiscal principles will leave office as the biggest national debt builder ever. Since Mr. Bush assumed office, the debt has nearly doubled. For most of those years, Republicans also controlled Congress.
[ ... ]
One more grim number: In August, the budget deficit grew to $116.9 billion, a record for that month and 81 percent larger than it was in August 2006..."
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