asheris

Now, that's a little out of date.

2003 ended up at $374 BILLION in the hole.

Fiscal 2004, it was $412.55 BILLION in the hole.

(Haven't seen the final 2005 numbers yet.)

So to sum up:
Over eight years, Clinton took us from a deficit of $290.4 billion, to a SURPLUS of $236.4 billion - that's a difference of $526.8 billion to the good, or a per-year average IMPROVEMENT of $65.85 billion.

In four years, Bush II took us from a SURPLUS of $236.4 billion to a DEFICIT of $412.55 billion. That's a difference of $648.95 billion - to the bad! That's a per-year average LOSS of $162.24 billion.

Did you know: During the weeks before he resigned, Nixon's approval rating was higher than George W. Bush's approval rating is today? (Of course, I'm still trying to figure out how he's staying over 30%...)