Pelosi Is Right: On Deficits, Dems Have “Taken The Lead”

National Debt Has Increased $3.5 Trillion Since Obama Inaugurated in 2009

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi claimed in a floor speech today that she and her party have “taken the lead” on deficits and fiscal responsibility for “decades”:

“But all this talk about deficit is when we have as Democrats taken the lead on [it] for decades.” (Pelosi Floor Remarks, 3/1/2011)

In fact, Pelosi and her fellow House Democrats have added $3.5 trillion to the national debt since 2009 alone, under two years of one party control in Washington:

“Just as President Obama signed and sent his annual Economic Report to Congress, the Treasury Department posted numbers that show the national debt has increased $3.5 trillion so far on Mr. Obama’s watch.

“On the day he was inaugurated, the national debt stood at $10.626 trillion…

“The posting today shows the debt at $14.128 trillion; that’s a $3.5 trillion increase in the 25 months Mr. Obama has occupied the White House.” (Mark Knoller, “Debt Has Grown $3.5 Trillion On Obama’s Watch,” CBS News Political Hotsheet, 2/23/2011)

After suffering a “shellacking” in the last election, Pelosi and her House Democrats have only persisted in their policies by voting en masse against spending cuts:

ZERO HOUSE DEMS VOTE FOR SPENDING CUTS IN FY 2011 BUDGET: Final Vote: 235-189 (Roll Call Vote 147, 2/19/2011)

ONLY 3 DEMS JOIN GOP ON OBAMACARE REPEAL: Final Vote: 245-189 (House Vote #14, 1/19/2011