Spared by the Sequester: “$60 million to $100 million” for President Obama’s trip to Africa later this month.

Of course, foreign diplomacy has always been a presidential duty, and both Bill Clinton and George W. Bush made presidential visits to multiple African countries.

When Bush visited Liberia, Ghana, Rwanda, Tanzania, and Benin in 2008, the national debt was $9.3 trillion; when Clinton visited Tanzania and Nigeria in 2000, the national debt was $5.6 trillion.

Today the debt is $16.7 trillion; some voices in Washington are elated that this year’s deficit will be “only” $642 billion, merely the fifth-largest annual deficit in American history after adjusting for inflation, ranking behind… 2009, 2010, 2011, and 2012.