From the office of Rep. Kevin Brady (TX):

Federal Debt Reaches $13 trillion; new report shows Democrats Twice as Culpable

As the U.S. Treasury Department is likely to announce today that the gross federal debt of America has reached a staggering $13 trillion, a new analysis by the Joint Economic Committee undercuts claims by Democrats that they are the party of fiscal responsibility.

A breakdown of spending by Congress under control of each party shows that since 1946 Democrats have created twice as much debt as Congressional Republicans – 65 percent to 32 percent.

“Democrats like to blame Bush, Reagan and anyone else for this staggering debt but now the issue is settled. Democrats are squarely to blame for generating two-thirds of the federal debt that American families must now repay through higher taxes or a slower economy,” said U.S. Congressman Kevin Brady (R-Texas), the lead House Republican on the Joint Economic Committee.

The analysis, prepared by the Joint Economic Committee minority staff, focused on the party in control of Congress since the legislative branch, not the President, holds the spending purse strings. Eighteen percent of the total spending occurred when control was shared by both parties.

“America’s debt now equals a whopping 83 percent of our economy and will grow to 107 percent by 2020 if the Obama budget is adopted,” noted Brady. “Unless we stop Congressional Democrats and President Obama from spending us even deeper into debt, future generations of Americans will be dragging an anchor of debt that will drown their dreams and cripple our nation’s prosperity.”