The audacity of spending

However, those gray 'ACTUAL' bars on the left are misleading due to Bush accounting practices. Observe the difference between his deficits and the real increase in national debt:

The key differences are: 1) The Social Security surplus, which reduces the "off-budget" deficit often reported in the media; and 2) Non-budgeted spending, such as for the Iraq and Afghanistan wars. The debt increased by approximately $550 billion on average each year during the 2003-2007 period, but then increased over $1 trillion during FY 2008.

To their credit, the Obama administration has given us more honest accounting by not hiding the cost of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars. But that doesn't make the projected ballooning deficits of 2012+ any prettier, or the increased taxes that will be necessary to pay for this spending any more palatable.