Bill, that was a good wake up call but maybe you could compare it to
this chart:
NATIONAL
DEBT G N P INTEREST
UNEMPLOY-
YEAR (BILLIONS) (BILLIONS) DEBT/GNP RATE MENT RATE
1790
1791 0.075 3.13
1795 0.081 3.94
1800 0.083 4.07
1805 0.082 5.06
1810 0.053 5.37
1814 0.081 5.67
1815 0.100 5.75
1816 0.127 5.68
1820 0.091 5.63
1825 0.084 5.20
1830 0.049 3.91
1835 0.000 0.00
1840 0.004 4.37
1845 0.015 6.93
1850 0.063 6.00
1855 0.036 6.42
1860 0.065 4.89
1861 0.091 4.40
1862 0.524 2.51
1863 1.120 2.21
1864 1.816 2.96
1865 2.68 2.89
1866 2.77 4.80
1870 2.48 5.21
1871 2.35 6.71 0.35 5.34
1874 2.25 7.53 0.30 4.75
1879 2.25 9.18 0.25 4.68
1884 1.83 11.3 0.16 2.98
1889 1.64 12.5 0.13 2.50
1890 1.58 13.1 0.12 2.28
4.0
1891 1.56 13.5 0.12 2.40
5.4
1892 1.63 14.3 0.114 1.44
3.0
1893 1.60 13.8 0.116 1.71
11.7
1894 1.67 12.6 0.13 1.67
18.4
1898 1.80 15.4 0.12 2.09
12.4
1899 1.98 17.3 0.11 2.02
6.5
1904 2.2 24.2 0.09 1.12
5.4
1909 1.15 31.6 0.036 1.90
5.1
1910 1.2 35.5 0.034 1.78
5.9
1913 1.2 39.6 0.030 1.91
4.3
1914 1.2 38.6 0.030 1.91
7.9
1915 1.2 40.0 0.030 1.91
8.5
1916 1.2 48.3 0.025 1.91
5.1
1917 3.0 60.4 0.050
4.6
1918 12.5 76.4 0.16
1.4
1919 25.5 84.0 0.34 2.43
1.4
1920 24.3 91.5 0.27 4.19
5.2
1921 24.0 69.6 0.34 4.16
11.7
1922 23.0 74.1 0.31 4.31
6.7
1925 20.5 93.1 0.22 4.30
3.2
1929 16.9 103.1 0.16 4.01
3.2
1930 16.2 91.1 0.18 4.07
8.7
1931 16.8 76.3 0.22 3.64
15.9
1932 19.5 58.5 0.33 3.07
23.6
1933 23.1 56.0 0.41 2.98
24.9
1935 32.0 72.5 0.44 2.57
20.1
1940 43.0 100 0.43 2.42
14.6
1941 49.0 124 0.40 2.27
9.9
1942 72.4 158 0.46 1.74
4.7
1943 136.7 192 0.71 1.32
1.9
1944 201 210 0.96 1.30
1.2
1945 259 214 1.21 1.40
1.9
1946 269 210 1.28 1.75
3.9
1947 258 231 1.12
1948 252 258 0.98
1949 253 257 0.98
1950 257 285 0.90 2.24
5.3
1955 274 397 0.69 2.32
4.4
1960 284 506 0.56 3.30
5.5
1965 313 688 0.45 3.68
4.5
1970 370 982 0.38 5.56
4.9
1975 533 1530 0.35 6.35
1980 908 2630 0.35 9.03
1982 1140 3070 0.37 11.40
1983 1380 3310 0.42
1984 1564 3801 0.42
1986 2120 4278 0.51
1988 2601 4908 0.54
1990 3286 5524 0.59
1992 4077 5866 0.69
(source: THE NATIONAL DEBT IN PERSPECTIVE
An Eye Opener by Oscar Falconi )
I also dont have the amount spent on welfare over the past 50 years...
but I think that it is the same as the national debt cumulation.
lemeno,
Doug!
A short history of the federal debt
Presidents
National debt run up
Time it took
Major events
Cumulative national debt left after each President
First 39 Presidents
$900 billion
200 years
Revolutionary War Civil War, WW I, WW II, Korean War, Vietnam War,
1930 Depression, Cold War
$900 billion
Reagan
$1.8 trillion
8 years
Cold War and minor wars $2.7 trillion
Bush I
$1.5 trillion
4 years
Iraq War I
$4.2 trillion
Clinton
$1.6 trillion
8 years
Yugoslavian wars. Welfare reform. Clinton had budget surpluses
in last years of term; last previous surplus was in 1969 in the midst
of the Vietnam War.
$5.8 trillion
Bush II
$2.7 trillion
5.5 years
Iraq War II, War on Terror,
tax cuts and more tax cuts,
federal spending gone wild
$8.5 trillion
Bush II
$300 billion
Projected: August 2006 --January 2007
More of the same, with the only Bush veto on stem cell research,
not spending.
$8.8 trillion
Sources: Bureau of Public Debt, US Treasury Department. Debt depicted
on Idaho map.
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