so they paid interest on the national debt but who is paying the principal?

OstiaAntica · on April 18, 2011

We actually borrowed more money to pay the interest on our debt. America is borrowing about 40 cents of every federal dollar spent.

anonymoushn · on April 17, 2011

Nobody plans on paying the principal. Not even Clinton did this.

OstiaAntica · on April 18, 2011

Actually Clinton and the GOP Congress did pay down principal on the public debt for a couple of years in the mid/late 1990s. See: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:USDebt.png

However, they still raided Social Security during this period.

anonymoushn · on April 18, 2011

Adjusting for inflation or calculating debt as a percentage of GDP allows you to say it has decreased, yes.

In either case, the number of dollars owed has not decreased under Clinton. http://www.brillig.com/debt_clock/history.gif