Our national debt of over $8 trillion increases by $2 billion every day. Every man, woman, child, and baby owes a $30,000 chunk of that debt.

National Debt vs. National Income

A useful way to look at the national debt is as a percentage of our gross domestic product. After World War II, the national debt was an astronomical 120% of the GDP.

After World War II, every administration worked to reduce that percentage until it reached a low point of 32.5% in 1981 at the end of the Carter administration. Under Republican and Democrat presidents, and under Republican and Democrat congresses, our nation made steady progress chipping away at the World War II debt for over three decades.

Fiscal Responsibility, An American Principle

Under Truman, Eisenhower, Kennedy, Johnson, Nixon, Ford, and Carter, the national debt declined steadily as a percentage of GDP, as you can see from this chart: National Debt Graph (2007 Budget data). We made progress in good economic times and bad. We made progress during the Korean War, during the Vietnam War, and during the 'Cold War' with the Soviet Union.

When Ronald Reagan took office, he had the best shot at eliminating the national debt completely; it had just reached its lowest point as a percentage of the GDP. Based on his campaign promises, many of us thought Reagan would do just that.

Fiscal Irresponsibility Raises Its Ugly Head

Sadly for our nation, during Reagan's presidency progress on reducing the national debt load was reversed. Fiscal irresponsibility became the order of the day. Reagan began the politically popular -- but fiscally foolish -- practice of demanding tax cuts without first getting the necessary spending cuts.

George Bush I continued the Reagan policy of fiscal irresponsibility, racking up record deficits. At the end of his term, the national debt as a percentage of GDP stood at 66.3%, more than double what it had been when Carter left office 12 years before.

Sanity Restored

During Clinton's presidency, fiscal responsibility again took hold, and the national debt as a percentage of GDP resumed its decline (albeit from a much higher level). In fact, the situation when Clinton left office was that the national debt was close to declining even in absolute terms.

Despite Clinton's claims, though, he never did achieve a real "surplus" in any year of his administration. (To show their policies in the best possible light, politicians from both parties like to use accounting frauds impermissible to private businesses.) You can see how very close Clinton came, though, in this chart, which shows the 20-year history of the national debt: The Debt To the Penny.

When Clinton left office, George Bush II inherited a better fiscal situation than any president for 75 years. All Dubya had to do to cut taxes was to get the necessary spending cuts first. The momentum from the Clinton years would have put the federal budget into the black, even in absolute terms.

Down The Toilet Again

But no! Dubya had promised during his campaign to restore the fiscal irresponsibility of the Reagan-Bush years, and that was the one campaign promise he was determined to fulfill.

When Dubya leaves office in 2009, the national debt will reach well over 70% of our GDP, a figure with disastrous consequences for future generations. Here is a chart showing who is responsible for the debt our children and grandchildren will be saddled with: Graph of Debt History Showing Presidents.

Why Does The National Debt Matter So Much Now?

When World War II ended, our country produced a large generation of baby boomers. For a long time, the number of people working was high compared to the number retired or disabled. Now baby boomers are nearing retirement themselves, and fewer people as a percentage of the population will be in the work force to carry the tax load for everyone.

Future generations will inherit our bills as well as the bills for solving their own problems. On top of that, they'll be asked to shoulder the debt service for the outstanding loans for services they did not receive.

In a nutshell, fewer taxpayers will be stuck with much higher bills. In fact, Dubya's fiscal policies amount to stealing from our children and grandhildren. But when it comes time to pay the piper, Dubya will no longer be in office. Hence it does not matter to him.

It matters to future generations, though, and it matters to me.

Been There