The Truth About Our National Debt - image

[Jim Lane]

7. I didn't elect him to reduce the debt.

We have two deficit problems. The long-term deficit is too high, because of structural factors, notably the Bush tax cuts and our bloated military establishment. The short-term deficit is too low, because the economy is in the tank and needs stimulus that only the federal government can provide.

I would be happier if Obama had proposed and gotten enacted a much larger stimulus, in which case the federal debt (expressed in current dollars, as per the OP, which is not the most meaningful measure) would be even higher.