A TRILLION HERE, A TRILLION THERE...

A trillion here, a trillion there, and pretty soon you're talking real money. President Obama continues to blame George W. Bush for his budget deficits, yet George W. Bush's biggest deficit (2008) was under $500 billion (the largest ever at the time). This year's deficit will easily top $1.8 trillion, or pushing four times the previous worst budget deficit in the history of the United States. Future years aren't projected to be much better under current spending trends, even when one factors in the administration's rosy growth guesses.

We've almost always had budget deficits, but they were, in hindsight, reasonable compared to the gargantuan numbers we're seeing from the Obama administration today. The Obama administration, led by President Barack Obama, and his Vice President, Joe Biden, seem to believe that you can spend your way out of a recession and spend your way out of debt. Put another way, they must believe that you can solve a debt crisis with . . . more debt.

Vice President Joe Biden recently told people attending an AARP town hall meeting that unless the Democrat-supported health care plan becomes law the nation will go bankrupt and that the only way to avoid that fate is for the government to spend more money.

“And folks look, AARP knows and the people with me here today know, the president knows, and I know, that the status quo is simply not acceptable,” Biden said at the event in Alexandria, Va. “It’s totally unacceptable. And it’s completely unsustainable. Even if we wanted to keep it the way we have it now. It can’t do it financially.”

“We’re going to go bankrupt as a nation,” Biden said.

“Now, people when I say that look at me and say, ‘What are you talking about, Joe? You’re telling me we have to go spend money to keep from going bankrupt?’” Biden said. “The answer is yes, that's what I’m telling you.”

So what is the answer? Spend more money of course . . . money that we don't have . . . money that has to be either printed, borrowed from future taxpayers, or inflated Jimmy Carter style. Either way, we're screwed. The current total deficit is over $11.6 trillion, which means that every man, woman and child owes the federal government over $37,800 and counting.

I often wonder if Biden and Obama actually believe this stuff, or if it's just part of the deception and excuse to expand the reach and scope of the federal government, growing the entitlement society in order to attract and retain more Democrat voters. One has to wonder.