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...expenditures aren't simply determined by what's been appropriated by law, but by what's actually been spent by the various agencies...

That's the difference between the annual changes in the public debt (changes in what we owe), and the annual budget deficit (how much we think we'll change what we owe). Personally, I say that following the public debt does a better job of showing what we're actually doing.

But say what you will about "what they've done for the past four years", I for one am sure glad that we're not talking about something Gore & Kerry did for the past four years.

Tell me again about how the debt is going down, as you claimed in post 146:

The Debt To the Penny
Current Amount

08/09/2005 $7,883,572,311,422.86

Current
Month

08/08/2005 $7,882,577,243,511.10
08/05/2005 $7,880,012,385,205.52
08/04/2005 $7,878,734,742,338.35
08/03/2005 $7,869,304,285,712.51
08/02/2005 $7,877,501,670,822.86
08/01/2005 $7,869,521,621,947.05

Prior
Months

07/29/2005 $7,887,617,581,195.58
06/30/2005 $7,836,495,788,085.86
05/31/2005 $7,777,880,152,594.89
04/29/2005 $7,764,537,337,364.14
03/31/2005 $7,776,939,047,670.14
02/28/2005 $7,713,137,673,664.71
01/31/2005 $7,627,742,597,775.41
12/31/2004 $7,596,165,867,424.14
11/30/2004 $7,525,209,508,979.45
10/29/2004 $7,429,677,448,545.04

Prior Fiscal
Years

09/30/2004 $7,379,052,696,330.32
09/30/2003 $6,783,231,062,743.62
09/30/2002 $6,228,235,965,597.16
09/28/2001 $5,807,463,412,200.06
09/29/2000 $5,674,178,209,886.86
09/30/1999 $5,656,270,901,615.43
09/30/1998 $5,526,193,008,897.62
09/30/1997 $5,413,146,011,397.34
09/30/1996 $5,224,810,939,135.73
09/29/1995 $4,973,982,900,709.39
09/30/1994 $4,692,749,910,013.32
09/30/1993 $4,411,488,883,139.38
09/30/1992 $4,064,620,655,521.66
09/30/1991 $3,665,303,351,697.03
09/28/1990 $3,233,313,451,777.25
09/29/1989 $2,857,430,960,187.32
09/30/1988 $2,602,337,712,041.16
09/30/1987 $2,350,276,890,953.00

Debt is not good, and deficits are not good, but that's just my personal preference. I can't find any historical evidence that large deficits are correlated with higher interest, "Crowding out" of private bonds, or inflation.

Moreover, the national debt has been quite high (although paid down) in the roaring 20s, when economic growth was phenomenal. And when deficits were low in the 1960s, the economy was quite sluggish, save for the 2 years associated with the JFK tax cut.

the annual budget deficit (how much we think we'll change what we owe)

The budget deficit refers to actual changes in the debt, not what we think the changes will be. Budget deficit projections refer to the what we think the changes will be.

But say what you will about "what they've done for the past four years", I for one am sure glad that we're not talking about something Gore & Kerry did for the past four years.

The Republicans in Congress would have forced Gore and Kerry to maintain fiscal discipline, just as (or even more effectively than) they forced Clinton to do so. When there's a Republican in the White House, they give him a free pass on all that.