“We have to live within our means.  We have to reduce our deficit, and we have to get back on a path that will allow us to pay down our debt.”— President Barack Obama, April 13, 2011

• On September 4, 2012, the national debt eclipsed $16 trillion for the first time in the history of our nation.

• According to the Department of Treasury, our nations’ debt was $16,015,769,788,215.80 on September 4.

• The national debt has increased by $5.38 trillion or 51 percent since President Obama took office.

• The national debt did not reach $5.3 trillion until 1997, during President Clinton’s second term. It took President Obama just over 3 ½ years to rack up as much debt as 42 other American presidents combined.

• Under President Bush (43) the national debt grew by $4.89 trillion in eight years. President Obama has surpassed that amount by nearly $500 billion in less than half that time.

• The national debt is now equal to $50,950 for every man, woman and child in the U.S.

• Under President Obama’s own budget proposal, national debt will continue to rise by over $9 trillion dollars in the next ten years, reaching $25.3 trillion by 2022.

• CBO has warned that more borrowing and higher debt will lead to more economic hardship and less opportunity:

“In particular, large budget deficits and growing debt would reduce national saving, leading to higher interest rates, more borrowing from abroad, and less domestic investment—which in turn would lower the growth of incomes in the United States.”

• Unprecedented Spending Increases: In 2007, the year before President Obama was elected and the first year under a Democrat Congress, federal spending was $2.7 trillion. In 2009, when Democrats held the White House and both chambers of Congress, spending ballooned to $3.5 trillion, an increase of nearly $800 billion or 29 percent in just two years.

• Failed Stimulus Spending: According to analysis by CBO, the total cost of the Democrats’ failed “stimulus,” when interest on the money borrowed is included, totaled more than $1.1 trillion. CBO estimates the cost of the bill will reach $831 billion and interest on the debt for the bill will be at least $347 billion. And what did the American people get from more than $1 trillion in new borrowing for the stimulus? 42 consecutive months of unemployment above 8 percent.

• Democrats Refuse to Pass a Budget: For two consecutive years the House has passed a budget that would address the drivers of our debt and would cut wasteful government spending to protect hardworking taxpayers. In the meantime, the president’s budget failed to receive a single vote from Democrats in the House or Senate this year. Even more shocking, the Democrat controlled Senate has failed to pass a budget for this country in more than three years. House Republicans are leading the charge to address the national debt. The president and Democrats are abdicating leadership.

For years, both political parties have made empty promises to the American people. Unfortunately, the President refuses to take responsibility for avoiding the debt-fueled crisis before us. Instead, his policies have put us on the path to debt and decline.

The President and his party's leaders refuse to take action in the face of the most predictable economic crisis in our nation's history. The President's budget calls for more spending and more debt, while Senate Democrats – for over 1,000 days – have refused to pass a budget. This unserious approach to budgeting has serious consequences for American families, seniors, and the next generation.

House Republicans reject the broken politics of the past. House Republicans are advancing a plan of action for American renewal. Our budget:

• Cuts government spending to protect hardworking taxpayers;
• Tackles the drivers of our debt;
• Restores economic freedom and ensures a level playing field for all by putting an end to special-interest favoritism and corporate welfare;
• Reverses the President's policies that drive up gas prices, and promotes an all-of the-above strategy for American energy production to help lower costs, create jobs, and reduce dependence on foreign oil;
• Strengthens health and retirement security by taking power away from government bureaucrats and empowering patients instead with control over their own care;
• Reforms our broken tax code to spur job creation and economic opportunity by lowering rates, closing loopholes, and putting hardworking taxpayers ahead of special interests.

To read more about the specific policies and plans contained in the House Republican Budget, please see:

• Pro-Growth Tax Reform in the House-passed Budget
• Medicare in the House-passed Budget
• Responsible Spending Cuts and Fiscal Discipline in the House-passed Budget
• Protecting the Social Safety Net Discipline in the House-passed Budget