The outgoing U.S. administration has presided over 8 years of disasters and crises with some of the biggest price tags America has ever seen.
By John Dyer
January 15, 2009
George W. Bush's presidency cost the U.S. about $11.5 trillion, if we estimate liberally.
Of course, it's debatable how much blame the U.S. president should bear.
Over the past eight years, Americans have suffered calamities that were bound to damage the nation deeply: two recessions, the most lethal terrorist attacks ever on U.S. soil, the invasion of Iraq on dubious grounds, the near destruction of one of the country's most storied cities and, finally, the Wall Street meltdown.
Because the median U.S. household income is about $50,000, many people may have trouble grasping the concept of spending trillions.
For context, let's compare two cases of extraordinary spending under Bush.
After the Sept. 11 attacks, Washington pledged $22 billion to help rebuild in lower Manhattan. At the time, that sum sounded enormous. It was more than one-fourth of the $80 billion budget that New York state had adopted a month before. Though some called for even more aid, the country at large was satisfied that this response was adequate to cope with calamity on a colossal scale.
Oh, how far the country has come.
In early October of 2008, U.S. Congress appropriated $700 billion to rescue Wall Street's financial institutions. Once that was done, the sky was the limit, and the numbers became dizzying.
And the spending won't stop after Bush leaves office Jan. 20.
In hopes of "breaking the momentum" of the current U.S. recession, President-elect Barack Obama is reportedly drafting a stimulus package that would cost the American government as much $850 billion. If past is precedent, it's unlikely Obama will stop there.
* Talk back: Does Canada need a stimulus package?
The new U.S. administration is already expected to inherit a $1.2 trillion deficit from Bush. The stimulus package would add to that record-breaking number.
Picture an avalanche of cash disappearing into the Potomac.
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