In Search of a Straight Answer, Rep. Ribble Asks: Does President's Budget Add to the Debt or Not?

At today's House Budget Committee hearing, Rep. Reid Ribble of Wisconsin tried to get a straight answer out of Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner on whether the President's FY2012 budget adds to the national debt. (The President has said that it doesn't.) Short answer: Yes, it does. By the Administration's own calculations, gross debt rises from $13 trillion to $26 trillion under the President's budget plan.