National debt tops $16 trillion; GOP pounces - 13abc.com Toledo (OH) News, Weather and Sports

National debt tops $16 trillion; GOP pounces

Posted: Updated:
The national debt clock at the Republican National Convention approaches $16 trillion The national debt clock at the Republican National Convention approaches $16 trillion

The national debt has topped $16 trillion. President Obama has presided over four straight years of trillion-dollar plus deficits after inheriting a weak economy from his predecessor.

Republicans are using the grim but expected news to blast the president for the government's dreadful fiscal performance during the his time in office.

"Today's news is another sad reminder of President Obama's broken promise to cut the deficit in half," said House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio.

Senator Rob Portman of Ohio said in a statement, "This debt will not only be a liability for our kids and grandkids, but economists also tell us that it will limit economic growth and kill millions of jobs now and in the future."

Portman was a member of last year's failed ‘supercommittee,' which deadlocked over taxes and cuts to popular benefit programs.

  • Top Stories

  • Wednesday, May 22 2013 11:37 AM EDT2013-05-22 15:37:02 GMT
    The Ohio Supreme Court will hear the appeal in the case of former Ottawa Hills police officer Thomas White. In January, the Sixth District Court of Appeals overturned his felonious assault conviction. In
    The Ohio Supreme Court will hear the appeal in the case of former Ottawa Hills police officer Thomas White.
  • Wednesday, May 22 2013 12:08 PM EDT2013-05-22 16:08:02 GMT
    (TOLEDO, Ohio) -- Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine is asking for the public's help locating a sexually oriented offender with a felony warrant out for his arrest. James Lee Smith, 50, last registered
    Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine is asking for the public's help locating a sexually oriented offender with a felony warrant out for his arrest.
  • The Boy Scouts of America will convene a two-day meeting of 1,400 local leaders to consider changing its long-standing ban openly gay boys belonging to the scouting movement.
    The Boy Scouts of America will convene a two-day meeting of 1,400 local leaders to consider changing its long-standing ban on openly gay boys in the scouting movement.

Area Events Calendar

See It, Shoot It, Send It!