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By Heath Haussamen<\/p>\n
The media on Monday shouted out the news that President Bush<\/a> will leave office with a record deficit of $482 billion<\/a> this year. The previous high came during another Bush-presidency year, 2004.<\/p>\n Liberal Web sites were quick to pounce. The Huffington Post headlined its coverage of the issue \u201cforever in your debt\u201d<\/a> with a photo underneath of Bush waving. Daily There is a lot of truth in their criticism. But there\u2019s far more behind the nation\u2019s deficit than the policies of the Bush administration.<\/p>\n \u201cIf the last eight years have taught us anything, it\u2019s that Republicans have no clue how to manage our nation\u2019s finances,\u201d he wrote.<\/p>\n Wait a minute: Congress has a role in this too, as It does, of course. What have congressional Democrats done to rein in the out-of-control spending of a president who claims to be a conservative but doesn\u2019t spend like one? Very little. In light of this year\u2019s record deficit, you could argue that congressional Democrats have done nothing to stop Bush.<\/p>\n And the bipartisan work of the MasterCard won\u2019t get us out of this mess<\/span><\/p>\n House Speaker Nancy Pelosi<\/a>, D-Calif., released a statement<\/a> claiming that Bush \u201chas mortgaged our future,\u201d but Democrats have begun to work to fix the problems. She cited bipartisan work on tax rebates, a new GI Bill and efforts to fix the housing crisis.<\/p>\n She\u2019s taking the view that There\u2019s no balance in that view of balancing the budget. Stimulating the economy to generate revenue is half of the equation. The other is saving money by controlling spending.<\/p>\n The Democrats are joining Bush in failing to do that. Hence the largest deficit in the history of the The 2001 recession and the 9\/11 terrorist attacks certainly contributed to this situation, which was exacerbated significantly by a Republican president and Congress who ran amok for years. But it wasn\u2019t just Republicans who approved lots of money to invade Though there are widely differing opinions on Bush\u2019s response to the terrorist attacks, most agree that at least some war spending was justified. Rainy days happen. That\u2019s why it\u2019s so important to save for them. I realize we live in a capitalistic society, but that doesn\u2019t mean the phrase \u201cfor everything else, there\u2019s MasterCard\u201d is a bit of wisdom. It isn\u2019t.<\/p>\n