Want lower debt? Elect a Democrat

Much rhetoric by both parties, as well as the tea party will be thrown about during this election season. Both sides claim they know what to do about the national debt. Claims aren't facts. But we can examine track records.

Around 1980, Ronald Reagan made an issue of the debt. He promised everyone he would lower it. Unfortunately, his policies did nothing of the sort. Sadly, what was a debt of 30 percent of GDP at the beginning, reached over 60 percent by the end of 12 years of Reagan/Bush No. 1 administrations.

Enter Clinton, a Democrat, who manages to lower it from 60 percent of GDP to 55 percent of GDP no small feat. Enter Bush No. 2. He, supported by Greenspan, persuades Congress to pass a huge tax decrease. This decrease in revenues along with unfunded wars and the economic meltdown raised debt from 55 percent to 85 percent of GDP. All in a short eight years.

Today, the debt stands at 93 percent of GDP.

Let's do a recap: Since 1980, the debt has risen from 30 percent to 93 percent of GDP, a 63 percent rise. Of this amount, 60 percent happened under Republican administrations and only 3 percent under Democratic administrations.

Political dogmas aside, the data speaks for itself and reflects the difference between talking and action.

If you believe that something should be done about the debt, the choice is pretty obvious. The Democrats have better track record by a huge margin. In the game of basketball, they would label this a slam-dunk.

There really isn't any comparison as the math favors the Democrats by a factor of 20-1.

John Strauss

Campton Hills