Why did Pelosi promise NO NEW DEFICIT SPENDING, and then add $5 TRILLION to the national debt?

There are a few factors to consider. When the Democrats threatened to cut funding for Bush's pet projects they were attacked as unpatriotic. The Democrats backed down.

When the economy crashed, due to bad Republican policies, Bush's Treasury Secretary got down on bended knee to beg Pelosi to pass the bailout legislation. The financial industry may have indeed collapsed without it.

After the effects of the Great Recession, caused by horrible Republican policies, began to be felt throughout the country, it was necessary to jolt the economy out of recession using Keynesian methods. It worked.

Look at the entire economic and fiscal mess created by the Bush administration. Then you can begin to understand what Pelosi did.

Remember the budget was in surplus before the clown prince georgie bush was given the presidency by the corrupt Republican supreme court. He started 2 needless wars, that is EXPENSIVE, and gave tax breaks to billionaires, HE, not Pelosi, is the source of the national debt, oh and by the way also the national bankruptcy and the coming collapse of our beloved America. Thanks a lot. Nice job.

The percentage increase in the national debt is expected to decrease from 41% during Bush's last term to an estimated 28% for Obama's first term.

The culprit to blame for our tremendous national debt isn't Pelosi or the Democrats, but Republican tax cuts and budget increases. You see, Reagan, Bush I and Bush II didn't decrease spending but instead increased it, especially military spending to finance the Cold War plus hot wars in Grenada, Panama, the Gulf, Afganistan and Iraq. That was fiscally irresponsible and has never been done by any previous president who've always increased taxes to finance wars.

Adjusted for inflation, Reagan increased the debt 57% his first term and 41% his second. Bush I maintained the rate of increase at 38%. It took Clinton until his second term to eliminate the growth in national debt. In his first term, he reduced it to a 16% increase, while in his second term, 2.3% of the total debt was paid back (a first since Carter paid off 7%). Bush II enacted the now famous tax cuts while starting two wars. He again increased the debt 22% during his first term and a whopping 41% his second.

If you think Pelosi meant to promise that she could single handedly bring that rate of increase down to zero in one year, or even four, you are absolutely clueless of both economics and politics. Obama is now expected to reduce the rate of growth from 41% during W's last term to 28% by 2013. However, with the extension of the Bush tax cuts for the wealthy to which Pelosi adamantly objected, I'm not sure that's possible.

Regardless, the tremendous national debt is very threatening to our future prosperity, our ability to deal effectively with recessions, and creates an unfair burden on future generations. If you really want to be part of the solution in your public discourse, you must first understand how we got here and help others to also so that future politicians won't use tax cuts without corresponding budget cuts to buy votes and irresponsibiliy recreate this problem again.

Or is your agenda only partisan politics and you just want to trash Pelosi?

Actually she has part of the blame. There are no laws that congress can legislate that will pass a President's veto without having a majority for a veto over-ride. Thanks for bringing up the issue that both President Bush and Obama signed into law budget spending that raised the debt.

You should also bring up how Reagan and George H. Bush also increased the debt, and Bill Clinton was the only President in resent years to reduce it.

Bravo!!!

Edit: I was partly right and you partly wrong. Under Clinton he did balance the budget in his second term but his increases to the debt under his watch was only 1.5 Trillion. This is lower than Reagan's 2 terms, lower than a average compared to G. H. Bush and far lower than G.W. Bush's 4.36 Trillion.

Call it a wash?

nicely that's a mix of issues. One that's that the folk round her proceed to spend. Bush and Obama like to spend. quantity 2, Pelosi likes to spend besides and no you would be able to like it if she actual pronounced that.

Oh she added it huh? Wow, that's something. Even when a conservative says something like that, it sounds insane.

Allright then I guess I could say Bush TRIPLED the deficit. Which is actually quite accurate...

I honestly believe Obama cares about me and many others a LOT more than any republican. So when it comes to choosing between these two parties, DEMS are a clear choise, it would be great if there were a third major party as well though.

Because deficit spending is different from the national debt.

Will you still be talking about this Pelosi chick when the ***** man runs up the deficit bro?

Don't laugh, there's a few leftists around here still insisting that Pelosi & Co. didn't spend more and didn't add to the deficit. I wish I was kidding, trust me, but I'm not.

Nancy Pelosi (Communist - California) is completely incompetent. Everything she says is a lie. She said that it would be the most open and honest Congress in history. Hells bells if this Congress is the most open and honest in history I would hate to see a corrupt one!