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National debt exceeds $18T, sparking renewed criticism of spending under Obama

The national debt has passed the $18 trillion mark, sparking renewed criticism Tuesday from Republicans and other fiscal conservatives over the soaring trajectory of government spending under President Obama.

Obama
President Obama speaks in Chicago. (AP)

This is a sad milestone for America, Reince Priebus, chairman of the Republican National Committee, said Tuesday.

The debt was at $10.6 trillion when Obama took office in 2009 but has increased by 70 percent during his roughly six years in office.

The national debt has skyrocketed by over $7.3 trillion, Priebus said. President Obama once said it was ‘unpatriotic’ and ‘irresponsible’ to add $4 trillion to the debt. By his own reasoning then, (he) has reached a new level of irresponsibility.

The federal debt, which topped $18 trillion last week, is the sum of two numbers.

The first is $12.92 trillion in public debt, which consists of all the outstanding Treasury bills, notes and bonds held by individuals, corporations, foreign governments and others.

The second is the $5.08 trillion in so-called intra-governmental holdings, special securities held by U.S. government trust funds and special funds – or basically IOUs from the federal government for money that it borrowed from Social Security and Medicare.

The new figure, reached late Friday, likely drew little attention because the federal deficit — how much the U.S. government spends annually in excess of revenue — has dropped under Obama, from roughly $1.4 trillion to $483 billion.

But fiscal conservatives argue the climbing national debt is still a big problem. Kevin Broughton, spokesman for the Tea Party Patriots, calculates the debt when divided equally among the U.S. population means every man, woman and child in the country owes $56, 250.

He and Priebus used the new number to renew calls for cuts in government spending to protect future generations and to garner support for a balanced budget amendment to the Constitution.

Our children and grandchildren deserve better, Priebus said.

Said Broughton: American families live within their means. It’s time for the American government to follow suit.”

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Article from: foxnews.com

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National debt exceeds $18T, sparking renewed criticism of spending under Obama

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