On the recordMay 4, 1995
it doesn't require one to be a rocket scientist to realize that the U.S. Constitution forbids any President's spending even a dime of Federal tax money that has not first been authorized and appropriated by Congress--both the House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate. So when you hear a politician or an editor or a commentator declare that ``Reagan ran up the Federal debt'' or that ``Bush ran it up,'' bear in mind that the Founding Fathers, two centuries before the Reagan and Bush Presidencies, made it very clear that it is the constitutional duty of Congress to control Federal spending--which they have not for the past 50 years. The fiscal irresponsibility of Congress has created a Federal debt which stood at $4,855,154,897,104.21 as of the close of business Wednesday, May 3. This outrageous debt--which will become the debt of our children and grandchildren--averages out to $18,430.25 on a per capita basis.
Source
govinfo.gov
