Queen Elizabeth Meets America’s “Undisputed Debt King”

Obama and Unrepentant Democrats Are Maintaining a “Special Relationship” to the Truth about their Spending

As President Obama travels abroad to Europe, back at home Democrats are desperately attempting to deflect blame for the record national debt piled up because of Obama’s big spending policies as a debate over raising the debt ceiling looms.

The nonpartisan organization Politifact joined the fray late last week, however, and fact-checked Democrat Leader Nancy Pelosi’s claim that the debt increase owes primarily to spending under Republican presidents. While declaring Pelosi’s reasoning a “Pants on Fire” lie, Politifact argued that based on data tracking the size of the debt relative to national GDP, “Obama is the undisputed debt king of the last five presidents”:

POLITIFACT: “OBAMA IS THE UNDISPUTED DEBT KING OF THE LAST FIVE PRESIDENTS.” “Some economists will tell you that it’s not the size of the debt per se, but rather the size of the debt relative to the nation’s gross domestic product. This helps minimize the complicating effect of economic cycles and inflation. … So by this measurement — potentially a more important one — Obama is the undisputed debt king of the last five presidents, rather than the guy who added a piddling amount to the debt, as Pelosi’s chart suggested.”(“Nancy Pelosi Posts Questionable Chart on Debt Accumulation by Barack Obama, Predecessors,” PolitiFact.com, 5/19/2011)

A new report from the GAO this week offered yet more insight into the extent of Democrats’ profligate spending, revealing that the Obama administration issued $24 billion in stimulus funds to thousands of contractors that collectively owed more than $750 million in unpaid taxes:

“Thousands of companies that cashed in on President Barack Obama’s economic stimulus package owed the government millions in unpaid taxes, congressional investigators have found.

“The Government Accountability Office, in a report being released Tuesday, said at least 3,700 government contractors and nonprofit organizations that received more than $24 billion from the stimulus effort owed $757 million in back taxes as of Sept. 30, 2009, the end of the budget year.

“The report said the tax delinquents accounted for nearly 6 percent of the 63,000 contractors and grantees examined and cautioned that the real number might be higher because the known tax debt does not measure such factors as income underreporting.

“Among the examples was an engineering firm that received a $100,000 stimulus act contract but owed $6 million in taxes. The IRS called it ‘an extreme case of noncompliance.’ A social services nonprofit that received more than $1 million in stimulus funds owed taxes of $2 million.” (Jim Abrams, “Tax Cheats Among Recipients of Stimulus Money,” Associated Press, 5/24/2011)

Congressional Democrats have been only too happy to go along with the Obama spending spree, even in the latest Congress. And in the looming debate over raising the nation’s debt limit, more than 114 House Democrats are now asking for another credit card without any promise to change their big spending ways:

114 HOUSE DEMOCRATS ALREADY SIGNED ONTO BLANK CHECK FOR FUTURE SPENDING: “As the New York Stock Exchange dropped sharply this morning in reaction to a report that Standard & Poor’s downgraded America’s long-term credit outlook to negative, Rep. Peter Welch (D-Vt.) released the names of 114 House Democrats in support of raising the debt ceiling without conditions.” (“As Stock Market Drops Over Worries About US Debt, Welch Leads 114 Democrats in Demanding A Clean Extension of Debt Ceiling,” Office of Rep. Peter Welch, 4/18/2011)

HOYER SAID WELCH LETTER NOT COMPLETE: “‘Well, when Mr. Cantor says it doesn’t have enough support, Mr. Welch has 114, of which I’m not one – I would vote for that,’ Hoyer said, referring to Rep. Peter Welch’s (D-Vt.) coalition of Democrats who are calling for a clean vote.” (Jake Sherman, “GOP Floats Test Vote on Debt Ceiling,” Politico, 5/03/2011)

Meanwhile, vast majorities of the American people continue to oppose the Democrats’ demands for a new credit card to continue their spending spree that puts future economic growth at risk:

68 PERCENT BELIEVE REDUCING NATIONAL DEBT WILL DIRECTLY HELP ECONOMY RECOVER. (Suffolk University Poll, 5/18/2011)

AND ONLY 11 PERCENT SUPPORT THE DEMOCRATS’ PLAN TO INCREASE THE DEBT LIMIT WITHOUT SPENDING CUTS. (“Voters Want Spending Cuts and Budget Reforms Tied to Debt Limit Increase,” Resurgent Republic, 4/26/2011)