For Immediate Release
April 10, 2008

BUSH-SUNUNU ECONOMIC POLICIES PUSH NATION INTO RECESSION

John E. Sununu has spent the last six years in the Senate kowtowing to George Bush and voting our country into a $9.5 trillion debt.

Four years ago, then chair of the Federal Reserve Alan Greenspan warned that "rising federal deficits may be the biggest threat to the nation's longterm economic stability." [New York Times, 5/7/04] This Tuesday, Greenspan reported the result of this reckless fiscal policy, saying our country has officially entered a recession. [USA Today, 4/8/08]

"Sununu broke his promises of fiscal responsibility, and the result is a national recession," said Alex Reese, Press Secretary for the NHDP's Coordinated Campaign. "Sununu's broken promises have bankrupted our nation with a $9.5 trillion debt, including over $1 trillion in debt to China alone, and he's leaving New Hampshire's middle class families to pay the bill."

Once he got to D.C., Sununu has blindly followed Bush and voted America into a record deficit, a national financial crisis, and now a full-blown recession.

Digging the Hole Deeper:

Sununu's Record of Reckless Spending

THE PROMISES

"...we cannot allow deficit spending to suddenly renew itself and start to grow out of control. Deficits create long-term economic liabilities for our children and grandchildren, liabilities that forestall the very opportunities that we want to try to create for them." [Concord Monitor, 9/23/05]

"I think we can do a better job in controlling the overall growth in government and reducing deficits, and I imagine that will receive even greater scrutiny this year than it did last." [NPR, Morning Edition, 2/2/05]

"One of our primary goals is to limit the growth of the federal budget." [Portsmouth Herald, 8/17/07]

THE REALITY

Ten-Year Surplus Disappeared in Two Years. "Two years ago, the congressional agency and the administration predicted an accumulated surplus of $5.6 trillion over 10 years. Today, the congressional agency said the 10-year surplus had essentially disappeared." [New York Times, 1/30/03]

Next Generation Will Pay for Deficit. "Administration officials acknowledged the next day that every dollar of that cost will be borrowed, a loan that economists say will be repaid by the next generation of taxpayers and the generation after that." [New York Times, 9/14/03]

Federal Budget Deficit

Year

Deficit (-) or Surplus

(Billions of Dollars)

1996

-107.5

1997

-21.9

1998

69.2

1999

125.5

2000

236.2

2001

128.2

2002

-157.8

2003

-377.6

2004

-412.1

2005

-318.3

2006

-248.2

2007

-162

2008(projected)

-357

[Congressional Budget Office]