When Barack Obama took office, the national debt stood at about $10.6 trillion. He called the spendthrift Bush administration “unpatriotic” for running up the tab. But Obama’s on pace to nearly double the debt during his tenure in office. “On Monday the U.S. national debt hit a new record: $19,012,827,698,418,” reports The Daily Signal. “This is the first time the national debt has ever exceeded $19 trillion. That’s more than $58,000 for each person that lives in the U.S. today (including children).” Major entitlements like Medicare and ObamaCare are going to put that increase ever more on autopilot.

Obama and the Democrats in particular, with some aiding and abetting from Republicans, used the 2008 fiscal crisis to expand not the economy but government. Last year, Congress effectively suspended the debt ceiling — not that it was doing much good. Presidents and Congresses of both parties happily spend whatever they want when in power, raising the debt ceiling whenever they reach it based on phony fears of default. And the reason is simple: Most Americans don’t actually want smaller government if it means cutting their own favorite spending. Politicians in Washington didn’t sell out the American people. They heard exactly what the people were saying. Until and unless that really changes, U.S. debt will continue to grow at a tremendous rate.