Toomey for Senate Launches Extremism Watch: One-Party Rule Produces the Largest Deficit in U.S. History

By PAT TOOMEY FOR U.S. SENATE

Allentown, PA – When the Democrats assumed complete control of Washington in January, they promised American taxpayers an end to extremism and a renewed commitment to fiscal responsibility. Unfortunately, one-party rule in Washington has produced just the opposite (PDF available here).

That is why the Toomey campaign has launched “Extremism Watch,” a serial feature to alert taxpayers to the danger of one-party rule in Washington and the havoc it is wreaking on our economy. U.S. Senate candidate Pat Toomey has been outspoken against one-party policies emanating from Washington today and historically, and wrote about the need for balance in an op-ed recently published in the Harvard Crimson and the Allentown Morning Call. In his op-ed, Toomey noted problems with one-party rule dating back to the 19th century and the first half of the 20th century, as well as earlier this decade under one-party Republican dominance.

In only six months, the current version of one-party rule in Washington has raised the U.S. deficit to the largest level in U.S. history. According to the Congressional Budget Office, the federal deficit for 2009 is now scheduled to hit an astonishing $1.8 trillion, or 12.9% of GDP, due to runaway government bailouts and a stream of wasteful spending.

To understand just how extreme this number is, consider that the federal deficit for 2008 capped out at $455 billion, or 3.2% of GDP. When the Democrats took control of Washington in January 2009, the federal deficit for 2009 was projected to reach $485.2 billion. That means the federal deficit has more than tripled under Democratic control in only six months’ time.

At no time in American history—not during World War I, the New Deal, or World War II—did the federal deficit reach the dollar amount projected under Democratic control today even after adjusting for inflation. It would not be an exaggeration to say that the concept of a $1.8 trillion deficit was simply unimaginable to previous generations. In terms of the Gross Domestic Product, we have not seen a deficit consume such a large portion of GDP since World War II (see charts below).

Americans are understandably concerned with the explosion of the federal deficit. They know the money government spends is not free. It comes straight out of pockets of hardworking taxpayers.

“All across America, hardworking families are cutting back to make ends meet and balance their budgets in these difficult times,” said U.S. Senate candidate Pat Toomey, “but the Democratic-controlled government is refusing to live by the same standards. The danger of one-party extremism is that American taxpayers are the ones who will pay the price in the form of higher taxes and less economic growth. And if we don’t get the economy back on track soon, future generations of taxpayers will pay the price as well. It is time to return fiscal responsibility and balance to Washington.”

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