George W. Carter

[Notaguru2]

It's official. George W. Bush is the reigning worst U.S. president in history.

1. Worst gas crisis ever and still ongoing (link - Iraq)
2. Placed America at the forefront of a war with Iraq that has now lasted longer than WWII
3. Complete economic collapse
4. Complete credit collapse
5. Ran the federal deficit from $5.6T to now over $11T in 8 FUCKING YEARS

That's legacy. Deal with it. Obama was right... "ENOUGH!!!!". America has decried, "UNCLE!" and you're out of here bubba... and take McCain with you.

 

[Industrialsize]

It's official. George W. Bush is the reigning worst U.S. president in history.

1. Worst gas crisis ever and still ongoing (link - Iraq)
2. Placed America at the forefront of a war with Iraq that has now lasted longer than WWII
3. Complete economic collapse
4. Complete credit collapse
5. Ran the federal deficit from $5.6T to now over $11T in 8 FUCKING YEARS

That's legacy. Deal with it. Obama was right... "ENOUGH!!!!". America has decried, "UNCLE!" and you're out of here bubba... and take McCain with you.

actually #5 is wrong........he started his term with a SURPLUS courtesy of bill Clinton

 

[Notaguru2]

actually #5 is wrong........he started his term with a SURPLUS courtesy of bill Clinton

A budget surplus doesn't mean we didn't have a national debt; we did and it was somewhere around $5.6T.

 

[mindseye]

The difference between the "federal deficit" and the "national debt":

Each year, the government receives money through taxes and other sources of revenue. If they spend more than they receive, they have a deficit for that year, and have to borrow money from other sources (including foreign banks!) to cover the difference. That borrowed money raises the national debt, which is the cumulative effect of years of annual deficit.

If they spend less than they receive, they have a surplus for that year, which can then be used to pay down the national debt.

deficit: annual spending higher than revenue;
surplus: annual spending less than revenue;
debt: cumulative spending higher than revenue;

The last time that the United States had no national debt was 1835-1837.
Bill Clinton successfully balanced the federal budget during his second term, creating an annual surplus; however, he wasn't unable to erase the entire national debt with it. (The figures in Notaguru2's post are correct, but the terminology is wrong: he meant "debt" and not "deficit".)

One of the problems with having such an enormous national debt -- a problem which Bush has escalated by doubling it while in office -- is that the interest payments on the borrowed money are crippling the economy. For fiscal year 2007, the federal government paid $430 billion dollars in interest (source). This money--almost 20% of the entire federal budget--could have gone towards health care, education, defense, housing, or any other needs, but instead it just bought us time.