Budget deficit versus national debt

Mr. Haugh accuses columnist Donna Brazile of deceiving him regarding deficit reduction. He deceives himself because he does not understand the terms.

The budget deficit (BD) is the difference between all revenues and all payouts in the current budget, while the national debt (ND) is how much the government has borrowed from all sources to make up the combined budget deficits of the past.

We have had a ND most of the time throughout history, starting from debt acquired during the Revolutionary War.

Several times in history Tea Party types have inspired us to make strong attempts to pay down or off the ND. Each time we actually tried, we created a huge recession or depression, which we had to run up more ND to get out of.

The only time, recently, we have had budget surpluses (decreasing ND) were from peace dividends during Eisenhower's and Clinton's administrations. Kennedy's and G.W. Bush's tax cuts took care of those quickly.

Brazile's point was that Bush increased the BD's each year making the ND go up faster, while Obama has decreased the BD's each year making the ND go up slower. If anyone finds this deceptive, the problem is theirs not Donna's.

Bob Lambert

Lake in the Hills