A promise not kept

"Today I'm pledging to cut the deficit that we inherited by half by the end of my first term in office." -- President Barack Obama, February 23, 2009

Three years ago, Barack Obama promised to cut the deficit by half.

He has failed. Not only has he failed, he has made it worse.

First, let's address Obama's claim that he "inherited" the deficit. As you can see in the numbers provided by the Office of Management and Budget, the deficits under President Bush peaked in 2004, and than began to decline. The budget deficit in 2007 - the last budget approved by the Republican Congress before Nancy Pelosi became speaker - was $160 billion. When the Democrats took over, the deficit exploded. So, yes, Barack Obama inherited a huge deficit from the Democrats in Congress.

YearRevenueExpensesSurplus/Deficit
(in billions) 20011,9911,862128 20021,8532,010-157 20031,7822,159-377 20041,8802,292-412 20052,1532,471-318 20062,4062,655-248 20072,5672,728-160 20082,5232,982-458 20092,1043,517-1,412 20102,1623,456-1,293 20112,3033,603-1,299 20122,4683,795-1,326

You can also see above that it is irresponsible spending, not revenue, that is driving the debt.

Barack Obama, with the help of a Democratic Congress, has put us on an unsustainable path. This country cannot afford four more years of this man's destructive policies. He must be defeated.