By Byron York - Chief Political Correspondent
The Washington Examiner
You dont have to be a deficit hawk to be disturbed by the growing gap between revenues and expenses said Sen. Barack Obama during a Nov. 3 2005 debate on the Senate floor. At the time Obama had been a senator for less than a year and the federal budget deficit was in fact shrinking from $248 billion in fiscal 2006 to $160 billion in fiscal 2007. Still Obama seemed deeply concerned about the deficit and he appeared to believe it when he said the only way to close the shortfalls was to force Congress to pay for what it spends.
A few months later on March 16 2006 Obama returned to the same theme -- You dont have to be a deficit hawk ... -- in a sobering floor speech as the Senate considered whether to raise the nations debt ceiling from $8.184 trillion to $8.965 trillion. The fact that we are here today to debate raising Americas debt limit is a sign of leadership failure Obama said. It is a sign that the U.S. government cant pay its own bills. It is a sign that we now depend on ongoing financial assistance from foreign countries to finance our governments reckless fiscal policies.
The deficit Obama argued handcuffed government in many ways. The money paid in interest on the debt was money that could not be spent on education transportation disaster relief or many other worthy causes. And borrowing so much from foreign countries meant Americas economy would be tied to the whims of foreign leaders who might not wish the best for the United States.
Increasing Americas debt weakens us domestically and internationally Obama concluded. I therefore intend to oppose the effort to increase Americas debt limit.
Obama made good on his promise. Joined by then-Sen. Joe Biden Senate Democratic leaders Harry Reid Richard Durbin Charles Schumer and indeed every other Democrat Obama voted against raising the debt ceiling. Republicans who controlled the Senate with a Republican in the White House voted for the increase which became law.
Later as president Obama admitted his 06 debt ceiling vote was a political maneuver. That was just an example of a new senator making what is a political vote as opposed to doing what was important for the country Obama told ABC in April 2011. As president you start realizing You know what? We cant play around with this stuff.
These days Obamas partisans defend that 06 vote by pointing out that Democrats werent in control back then and couldnt have actually blocked a debt limit increase even if they had wanted to. So Obama could play around with the vote.
But did Obamas words sound like a man who was playing around? In that 06 Senate speech he made a cogent and convincing case against deficits. If he didnt believe a word of it he didnt show it.
And now under his own administration the problem is so much worse. The budget deficit that headed from $248 billion to $160 billion in 2006 and 2007 shot up to $458 billion in 2008 and $1.4 trillion in 2009 as the economic crisis took hold and Obama became president.
In 2010 the deficit was $1.3 trillion then another $1.3 trillion in 2011 then $1.1 trillion in 2012. Its projected to be above $1 trillion again in 2013 extending Obamas record of presiding over unprecedented trillion-plus deficits.
And now Obama who in 2006 balked at raising the debt ceiling to $8.965 trillion is demanding that Congress without question negotiation or condition raise the debt ceiling somewhere far above its current $16.4 trillion.
There is ... no ready credible solution other than Congress either give me the authority to raise the debt ceiling or exercise the responsibility that they have kept for themselves and raise the debt ceiling Obama said at his news conference Monday. We are not a deadbeat nation.
But the interest on the debt now vastly higher than when Obama addressed the issue in 2006 is still money that cant be used for education transportation and other priorities. And the money borrowed from other countries also vastly more than in 06 leaves the U.S. even more at the whims of foreign leaders.
Did the president believe what he said back then or does he believe what he is saying now? Who knows? But perhaps the Barack Obama of 2013 should listen to the Barack Obama of 2006. He was an emerging Democratic superstar back then. And no wonder -- he made a lot of sense.
Byron York The Examiners chief political correspondent can be contacted at
byork@washingtonexaminer.com. His column appears on Tuesday and Friday and his stories and blogposts appear on washingtonexaminer.com.
