(CNSNews.com) – When speaking to the nation in a primetime television address on Monday, President Barack Obama said that because less money was “coming in” during the recession, the federal government had to “spend even more.” “The deficit was on track to top $1 trillion the year I took office,” said Obama. “To make matters worse, the recession meant that there was less money coming in, and it required us to spend even more -- on tax cuts for middle-class families to spur the economy; on unemployment insurance; on aid to states so we could prevent more teachers and firefighters and police officers from being laid off. These emergency steps also added to the deficit.”
Obama then went on to make his argument for a “balanced approach,” with tax increases as part of a deal to increase to debt limit.
According to the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO), the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA), known as the economic stimulus, was passed by the Democrat-led Congress in February 2009 and has cost the taxpayers $821 billion.
The CBO projects that the federal budget deficit will reach $1.5 trillion by the end of the fiscal year 2011. The current national debt limit is $14.29 trillion.
Official debt figures from the U.S. Treasury show that the 111th Democrat-led Congress added $3.22 trillion to the national debt.
Following the president’s remarks, House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) called for a reduction in federal spending and no tax increases as part a deal to increase the debt limit.
“The solution to this crisis is not complicated: if you’re spending more money than you’re taking in, you need to spend less of it,” said Boehner.
“There is no symptom of big government more menacing than our debt,” he said. “Break its grip, and we begin to liberate our economy and our future.”
Boehner also mocked the economic stimulus package signed by President Obama.
“Here’s what we got for that spending binge,” said Boehner, “a 'stimulus' bill that was more effective in producing material for late-night comedians than it was in producing jobs and a national debt that has gotten so out of hand it has sparked a crisis without precedent in my lifetime or yours.”
