Spending Addicts

In 1947, after the costly war and America's huge investment in the rebuilding of Europe and Japan, the government's total debt stood at $257 billion. It took about 18 years for that figure to double, gradually edging up to $542 billion in 1975.

In many of the postwar years, the government actually operated in the black. It had a surplus of $4 billion in 1947 (the equivalent of about $38.3 billion in current dollars) and modest surpluses in 1948, '49, '51, '56, '57, 1960 and 1969 as well.

The pace of deficit spending and debt accumulation then accelerated. Total federal debt doubled from 1975 to 1982, when it broke the $1 trillion barrier, ending the year at $1.14 trillion. Only five years were needed to double the total again, increasing to $2.35 trillion in 1987. It nearly doubled again over the next seven years, hitting $4.64 trillion in 1994. And if the estimates of government accountants are accurate, it will have doubled again by the end of the current fiscal year, ending the year at $9.65 trillion, heading upward to an estimated $10.5 trillion by the end of the next fiscal year.

FLASH!!! Congress raised the debt limit on Saturday to $10.6 trillion - Bush will surely sign it.