At the height of the Great Depression, President Franklin Roosevelt put America to work. In 1935, when 1 in 5 Americans were unemployed, Washington launched the Works Progress Administration, still the largest public works initiative in the country’s history. Its initial appropriation was $4.9 billion (about $90 billion in today’s dollars), and within three years, […]
Former U.S. Sen. Robert Stafford was no friend of President Ronald Reagan. He was one of the last liberal Republicans in the Senate and, due to his seniority, exercised power disproportionate to the diminutive state that elected him. And true to the Vermont stereotype, he openly challenged the popular president whenever his displeasure over national […]
In an interview with the Washington Post’s Bob Woodward, candidate Donald Trump proposed to erase the national debt during the 2016 presidential primaries. Trump: “We’ve got to get rid of the $19 trillion in debt.” Woodward: “How long would that take?” Trump: “Well, I would say over a period of eight years.” Economists said at […]
In 1978, toward the end of eighth grade, I appeared before the Downtown Optimists Club of Oklahoma City to deliver a speech focusing on the alarming growth of our national debt. I did so as part of an annual contest that encouraged young people to become orators and to start thinking seriously about matters of […]
Stimulus plan and $1,400 checks drove spending much higher as the White House and Republicans clash over where to spend money next The federal government spent $660 billion more than it collected in tax revenue this March, the Department of Treasury said Monday, as the Biden administration’s stimulus package pushed the U.S. monthly deficit near […]
Over two months into Joe Biden‘s presidency, the national debt has grown to about $28.1 trillion, a record high, according to Treasury Department data as of April 6. The total public debt outstanding comprises both public debt and intragovernmental holdings. Over two-thirds of the total debt is held by the public. The national debt was $28 […]
Like the swallows to Mission San Juan Capistrano and the buzzards to Hinckley, Ohio, the doves on government debt have returned to Washington. And in a big way. The numbers tell the story. Last year, in the face of a once-in-a-century health emergency, a Republican president pushed massive spending bills that pushed the federal deficit […]
“As President Joe Biden unveils his own ambitious spending plans, it is worth asking if the national debt is finally going to have its moment.” In normal times, the national debt is something of a losers’ issue—a political cudgel used by the party currently out of power (or ardent libertarians, who are always out of […]
The same senators who added trillions to the debt with massive tax cuts for the rich are now complaining about debt — while trying to make those tax cuts permanent. As Senate Republicans complain that President Joe Biden’s $2.25 trillion American Jobs Plan would add too much to the national debt, some are acknowledging that […]
Republicans rediscover their concern for the national debt. Republicans who voted to grow the national debt under former president Donald Trump are trumpeting fiscal conservatism again during a Democratic presidency. (JM Rieger/The Washington Post) Over the past month, Senate Republicans have acknowledged something that would have been anathema a decade ago: Debt and deficits not […]
