Is it too hard to actually USE the U.S. Treasury as your source, and not another story that references it? Here... let me help you. United States - Department of The Treasury - Homepage.
Verify what was said in the opinion piece if you expect anyone to take it or you seriously.
I got this from that link in 15 seconds:
Federal borrowing from the public net of financial assets increased by $1,417 billion during FY2009, to $6,711 billion or 47.2 percent of GDP. [1]
Summary of Fiscal Year 2009 Final Data
Table 1. Total Receipts, Outlays, and Deficit (in billions of dollars)
Receipts
Outlays
Deficit
FY2008 ActualOutlays
Deficit
2,524
2,978
-455
FY2009 Estimates2,978
-455
May 2009 Budget
2,157
3,998
-1,841
August 2009 Mid-Session Review3,998
-1,841
2,074
3,653
-1,580
FY2009 Actual3,653
-1,580
2,105
3,522
-1,417
3,522
-1,417
Primarily because of the government's economic recovery efforts, outlays for FY2009 grew by $543 billion, or 18.2 percent, from FY2008. The full implementation of these temporary measures -- notably TARP initiatives to aid financial institutions and stabilize credit markets, the Treasury's Preferred Stock Purchase Agreement with Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, which helped to stabilize credit availability in the mortgage market, and the Recovery Act -- contributed to growth in outlays. Increased outlays through automatic stabilizers such as Medicaid and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program also contributed to the change. As a percentage of GDP, outlays grew from 20.6 percent in FY2008 to 24.8 percent in FY2009.