Whose Inherited Deficit Is This?

I don’t know about you but I’m sick and tired of hearing about the “inherited deficit” Presdient Obama keeps talking about. Here’s the scoop…Barack Obama is lying to you.

Let’s look at the facts regarding this “inherited deficit”. The last full fiscal year under the Bush administration was 2008. The first full fiscal year of the Obama administration will be 2010. The deficit he keeps referring to is the 2009 federal budget deficit, which is a SHARED fiscal year.  Fiscal year 2009 began on Oct. 1, 2008 and ends on Sep. 30, 2009 and will cover spending brought forth by BOTH administrations.

Any government spending that occurs between Obama’s inauguration and Sep. 30 of this year will be included in the deficit he claims to have “inherited” from Bush. Much of the spending that will occur during 2009 was already budgeted during the Bush administration, but certainly not all of it and a huge chunk of Bush’s part was the original $700 billion TARP Bill that Barack Obama had no problem voting for. What about the $787 billion stimulus package Obama just recently signed? Any money it spends before Sep. 30 will be included in the deficit he’s pinning on Bush. How about the $410 billion 2009 Omnibus Appropriations Bill Obama will likely get on his desk this week? You got it…that gets lumped into that same “inherited deficit” he got from Bush. I can say one thing about Obama, he’s as slick as a greased pig at a county fair.

Here are some more facts. According to the government’s own Office of Management and Budget, the Bush years included a $128 billion surplus in 2001 (a shared year with Clinton), following with deficits of $158 billion in 2002, $378 billion in 2003, $413 billion in 2004, $318 billion in 2005, $248 billion in 2006, $162 billion in 2007, and $410 billion in 2008. Obama’s 2010 forecast of a $1.2 trillion deficit makes those numbers look like spare change. Now, don’t get me wrong, a lot of money was unwisely spent during the Bush years but when it comes to spending, the Obama administration is like Bush on steroids. Obama’s on the juice…big time, and he needs to take responsibility for his part of the mess!

So whose deficit is this anyway? The answer is BOTH! Make no mistake, it’s a fact the  “inherited deficit” is partly Obama’s and his part is growing larger every day. (There’s a great explanation of Obama’s spending binge over on Gateway Pundit.) When Obama was inaugurated in January, the estimated deficit for 2009 was around $1.3 trillion while current estimates are reaching over $1.7 trillion. That’s a rise of $400 billion just since he’s taken office. You gonna pin that on Bush as well?

Mr. President, enough with the whiny “I inherited this mess” routine. You are the one who wanted the job and campaigned hard for it.  If you can’t take the heat now, then get out of the darn kitchen!