Democrats and Republicans take turns condemning and piling up debt. For example, while Franklin Roosevelt was president, Democratic Party platforms were mostly silent about government debt, while Republicans regularly condemned it. In 1960 Democrats criticized President Eisenhower for failing to reduce the national debt, but avoided the issue during the 1960s and 1970s.

When President Reagan increased the national debt during the 1980s, Democrats launched the strongest anti-debt campaign in U.S. history, but Republicans stopped talking about it. Democrats criticized a reported comment by Vice President Cheney that debt doesn’t matter, but now that a Democratic president is presiding over debt increases, Republicans are raising the volume, while Democrats downplay the issue. Keep reading →