Now that our national debt under this president has surpassed the nation’s GDP (the first time ever!), we thought we’d go back in time and see what then candidate Obama had to say about the deficit:

THEN-SEN. BARACK OBAMA (D-IL): “Increasing America’s debt weakens us domestically and internationally. Leadership means that ‘the buck stops here.’ Instead, Washington is shifting the burden of bad choices today onto the backs of our children and grandchildren. America has a debt problem and a failure of leadership.” (Sen. Obama, Congressional Record, S.2237-8, 3/16/06)

OBAMA: “The first thing you do when you’re in a hole is what? … you stop digging. So the first thing that we’re going to have to do is to stop adding to our deficit.” OBAMA: “Keep in mind, the first 42 presidents, they amassed $5 trillion worth of debt, the first 42 of them. The first couple of hundred years-plus of American history, we accumulated $5 trillion. Now we’re at $9 trillion. That’s just bad — that’s not being fiscally conservative. And so we’re going to have to change our policies. Now, it’s going to be — let me say this. It’s not going to be completely easy, because we’re in a hole. And the first thing you do when you’re in a hole is what?” (UNKNOWN): “Stop digging.” OBAMA: “Stop digging. Who got that right? There you go. You stop digging. So the first thing that we’re going to have to do is to stop adding to our deficit.” (Sen. Obama, Remarks To Campaign Event, Watertown, SD, 5/16/08)

Related:

RFT: As Obama Attacks Congress, McCaskill Becomes Vulnerable

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