Biden Blames Republicans for National Debt in Discussion of the 'Facts

Vice President Joe Biden was discussing the national debt with a group of supporters over the weekend in Florida when he told the audience to "get serious" about labeling its true source.

In an article titled "Biden Blames Bush Administration for Deficit," ABC relates:

"Let's get serious here!  How did we get this debt?  Ladies and gentlemen, they put two wars on a credit card.  Not paying a penny, not paying a penny, even though I introduced legislation to pay for that war.  They voted against it," Biden said at the Wa-Ke Hatchee Park Recreation Center.

"Two, they voted for a new entitlement program without paying one penny for it, and that was clear.  Number 3, they added another trillion dollars in the tax cut for the very wealthy, so what's the result?  These are the facts, folks, these are the facts.

"The result was by the time the reins got turned back over to Barack [Obama] and me, they had doubled the national debt in eight years, doubled the national debt in eight years," Biden added.  [Emphasis added]

Here is video of Biden's remarks, via C-SPAN (relevant remarks around 13:00):

While no one is denying the national debt increased during the Bush administration, many point out that it has only increased at a more rapid rate under the leadership of Barack Obama.

A spokesman for Mitt Romney hammered the vice president for his remarks, writing in a statement:

"President Obama and Vice President Biden have no credibility on reducing our national debt...  Over the last four years, the Obama-Biden team has presided over the largest increase in the national debt of any administration in history.  And President Obama's latest spending plan is riddled with accounting gimmicks and tax hikes, rather than policies that will get our long-term debt under control.  Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan will take immediate steps to cut spending and put our nation on track toward a balanced budget."  [Emphasis added]

Speaking at his own campaign appearance last week, Mitt Romney said: "And by the way, those debts get passed on to our kids.  It's not just bad for the economy; it's not just bad for our job creation...in my opinion, it is immoral for us to pass on obligations like that to the next generation."

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