Record Deficit of $482 Billion Forecast
By ROBERT PEAR and DAVID M. HERSZENHORN
Published: July 29, 2008

WASHINGTON — The White House predicted on Monday that the Bush administration would bequeath a record deficit of $482 billion to the next president — a sobering turnabout in the nation’s fiscal condition from 2001 when President Bush took office and inherited three consecutive years of budget surpluses.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/29/washington/29budget.html?_r=1&oref=slogin

surpluses were a accounting myth... for some reason when the government calculates surpluss and deficit they do not bother to count loan servicing (the interest payed on money we owe other countries) Bush still ran some numbers that are absolutely astonishing, but it's been a long time since we had a surplus.

http://www.cedarcomm.com/~stevelm1/usdebt.htm

http://www.letxa.com/articles/16

Maybe Obama will actually be able to make a turn in the country.... or whoever takes office if McCain gets elected and, as would be expected of anyone his age, immediately has a heart attack upon hearing the news.

If this were us, we would be in jail. We need leadership that understands fiscal responsibility and gets us going in a good direction.
Remember, it is Congress that is responsible for setting the budget, not the President

I guess the nytimes article was referring to the reduction of debt as a surplus.

That first article is full of interesting info. Thanks for the link.
I found this particlular piece interesting, considering many people believe republicans want a smaller government...

"That is, for every dollar a Democratic President has raised the national debt in the past 25 years, Republican presidents have raised the debt by $2.53[6] (http://www.cedarcomm.com/~stevelm1/usdebt.htm#_ftn6). Any way you look at it Neo-Conservative Republican presidents cannot or will not control government spending."



... Remember, it is Congress that is responsible for setting the budget, not the President
Very true. But the presidents policies and actions can cost lots of money that wouldn't have been spent otherwise.