Why do Bush lovers defend him by saying the economy was in a mess when he became President?
Yes – you are broadly correct. Clinton reached a stage where there was a budget surplus. That is where income was greater than expenditure and so he used the spare money to start paying off the National debt which at that stage stood at $5.6 trillion. This debt had been getting bigger under previous Presidents, and it had taken some 90 years to reach $5.6trillion. When Bush came to office, he gave out tax cuts. This meant he had less money coming in than he was spending. Then came 9/11 Bush’s response was to start two wars, and wars are costly. So not only was he running a budget deficit, he now took on extra costs. The sensible thing to have done would have been to tell America that taxes would have to rise a little. But he didn’t. Instead, each year he borrowed to meet the budget gap. And he did this EVERY YEAR. The result is that the National Debt has gone from $5.6 rillion to $10.4 trillion and that was before the bank bailout, which will probably add another $1 trillion. Some will
