Kent Conrad: “Here is what we are confronting--a very dramatic deterioration in the budget condition of our country. You can see, in…”

“Here is what we are confronting--a very dramatic deterioration in the budget condition of our country. You can see, in 2007, the official deficit was $162 billion; that is down from what had been record levels. We achieved an all-time--not achieved, there is no achievement to it--we saw an all-time record deficit in 2004 of $413 billion. That became the record. The year before was the record up until that point--$378 billion in the red. Of course, the real situation is far worse because this does not disclose how much the debt has been increased. Then we saw some improvement, to 2007, a deficit of $162 billion. But now we are right back at record levels--$410 billion estimated for this year. I believe it is going to be even worse, and 2009 will be about the same level. When I talk about debt, here is what I am talking about. The gross debt of the United States has gone up like a scalded cat under this administration. When this President came into office at the end of the first year, the debt stood at $5.8 trillion.”