Who Is Minding The Budget?

In this season of irresponsible rhetoric instead of reasoned debate about all kinds of genuine national issues and needs, I offer the following historical comparative history of our budget deficits since 1969. As people try to self-portray themselves as the “party of change” or the “party of fiscal conservatism,” or whether budget deficits matter or not, a look at the actual track record of federal deficit spending and who was in charge may prove to be helpful to us in some part.

Year / Budget Result / President / Senate Control / House Control
1969: -0.5B (Johnson-D; Senate-D; House-D)
1970: -8.7 (Nixon-R; Senate-D; House-D)
1971: -26.1 (Nixon-R; Senate-D; House-D)
1972: -26.1 (Nixon-R; Senate-D; House-D)
1973: -15.2 (Nixon-R; Senate-D; House-D)
1974: -7.2 (Nixon-R; Senate-D; House-D)
1975: -54.1 (Nixon-R; Senate-D; House-D)
1976: -69.4 (Ford-R; Senate-D; House-D)
1977: -49.9 (Ford-R; Senate-D; House-D)
1978: -55.4 (Carter-D; Senate-D; House-D)
1979: -39.6 (Carter-D; Senate-D; House-D)
1980: -73.1 (Carter-D; Senate-D; House-D)
1981: -73.9 (Carter-D; Senate-D; House-D)
1982: -120.6 (Reagan-R; Senate-R; House-D)
1983: -207.7 (Reagan-R; Senate-R; House-D)
1984: -185.3 (Reagan-R; Senate-R; House-D)
1985: -221.5 (Reagan-R; Senate-R; House-D)
1986: -237.9 (Reagan-R; Senate-R; House-D)
1987: -168.4 (Reagan-R; Senate-R; House-D)
1988: -192.3 (Reagan-R; Senate-D; House-D)
1989: -205.4 (Reagan-R; Senate-D; House-D)
1990: -277.6 (G.H.W. Bush-R; Senate-D; House-D)
1991: -321.4 (G.H.W. Bush-R; Senate-D; House-D)
1992: -340.4 (G.H.W. Bush-R; Senate-D; House-D)
1993: -300.4 (G.H.W. Bush-R; Senate-D; House-D)
1994: -258.8 (Clinton-D; Senate-D; House-D)
1995: -226.4 (Clinton-D; Senate-D; House-D)
1996: -174.0 (Clinton-D; Senate-R; House-R)
1997: -103.2 (Clinton-D; Senate-R; House-R)
1998: -29.9 (Clinton-D; Senate-R; House-R)
1999: +1.9 (Clinton-D; Senate-R; House-R)
2000: +86.4 (Clinton-D; Senate-R; House-R)
2001: -32.4 (Clinton-D; Senate-R; House-R)
2002: -317.4 (G.W. Bush-R; Senate-D; House-R)
2003: -538.4 (G.W. Bush-R; Senate-D; House-R)
2004: -568.0 (G.W. Bush-R; Senate-R; House-R)
2005: -493.6 (G.W. Bush-R; Senate-R; House-R)
2006: -434.5 (G.W. Bush-R; Senate-R; House-R)
2007: -342.2 (G.W. Bush-R; Senate-R; House-R)
2008: -638.1 (G.W. Bush-R; Senate-D; House-D)
2009: In Process (G.W. Bush-R; Senate-D; House-D)


SOURCE: non-partisan Congressional Budget Office

Fiscal years end October 31; budget proposed and passed in prior year by prior President and Congress.
Amounts shown are in Billions