The Conservative Revolution 325This reduction in the amount of money obtained from taxpayers
caused the national debt to rise to record levels. Unlike Reagan, who
advocated tax reduction as a means of shrinking the government, Bush
increased expenditures during his administration. The surpluses left by
the Clinton administration quickly disappeared, and the national debt
swelled to $ 9 trillion. Much of this debt was owed to foreign investors,
such as China, which also sold goods to the United States at cheaper
prices than domestic products and thereby increased the nation’s huge
trade imbalance.
What made the debt situation worse was the ballooning Social Se-
curity and Medicare obligations resulting from those born immedi-
ately after World War II and known as the baby boomer generation
who were nearing retirement. Sooner or later both Social Security and
Medicare programs would need attention, but neither Congress nor
the administration had any genuine solutions to potential shortfalls in
these programs.
The Bush administration also acted unilaterally in addressing for-
eign affairs. It abandoned the Kyoto Protocols, which set mandatory
limits regarding atmospheric pollution, as well as UN conventions that
banned biological weapons and nuclear tests. It behaved as though it
could do as it pleased in foreign affairs and not be guided by the needs
or wishes of other nations.
And then came the blow. On September 11 , 2001 , terrorists, armed
with box cutters, commandeered four airplanes and rammed two of
them into the World Trade Center in New York City, killing nearly
3 , 000 people. Another plane slammed into the Pentagon and killed
almost 200. A fourth plane, headed for the Capitol or the White House
in Washington, crashed in Pennsylvania when courageous passengers
rebelled against the seizure of the plane and fought the terrorists. Pas-
sengers, crew members, and terrorists, numbering 246 , died in the
crash. These well-planned and -executed operations were the work of a
radical Muslim organization known as Al Qaeda, led and fi nanced by
Osama bin Laden, and supported by Taliban leaders in Afghan istan
who had seized control of the country in 1996 , after fi rst overthrowing
a government supported by the Soviet Union. The United States had
assisted the Taliban in its struggle for inde pendence since this hap-
pened during the Cold War. The Muslim radicals regarded the United