Obama Writes About the Deficit and Debt

From Associatedcontent.com

Obama wrote in "The Audacity of Hope" that tax cuts for the wealthy were too deep, that spending was too high, and that politicians were lacking courage to face the future.

Obama's key passage on Page 188 states: "The result of this collective denial of the most precarious budget situation that we've seen in years. We now have an annual budget deficit of more than $300 billion, not counting more than $180 billion we borrow every year from the Social Security Trust Fund, all of which adds directly to our national debt. That debt now stands at $9 trillion -- approximately $30,000 for every man, woman, and child in the country."

How ironic. Those numbers today would sound peachy. Annual budget deficit forecasts are as high as $1.6 trillion, or more than 5 times the sum that Obama lamented in "The Audacity of Hope." The debt is pegged to reach about $15 trillion by the middle of Obama's four-year term -- approximately $50,000 for every man, woman, and child in the country.

Does Barack Obama ever go back, from time to time, and read his own passages from "The Audacity of Hope?" Obama probably doesn't have much time for that, but of course, his writings are no doubt etched into his memory. This particular passage, regarding the deficit and the debt, certainly must stir some thoughts as our new president today reaches his one-month anniversary in office.