The country was in surplus? Here is the national debt from 2000-2012 from the Treasury:

09/30/2012 16,066,241,407,385.89
09/30/2011 14,790,340,328,557.15
09/30/2010 13,561,623,030,891.79
09/30/2009 11,909,829,003,511.75
09/30/2008 10,024,724,896,912.49
09/30/2007 9,007,653,372,262.48
09/30/2006 8,506,973,899,215.23
09/30/2005 7,932,709,661,723.50
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
09/30/2001 5,807,463,412,200.06
09/30/2000 5,674,178,209,886.86

At the end of Clinton's term the debt was $5,662,216,013,697.
At the end of Bush's term it was $10,699,804,864,612. So in two terms the debt under Bush went up about $5 trillion. At the end of 2012 under Obama the debt was $16,432,730,050,569. So under Obama the debt went up by close to $6 trillion. That's twice the debt for one of Obama's terms than both of Bush's terms combined. Also, for the first time in American history, the debt is 103% of the GDP (Gross Domestic Product). The highest it went under Bush was 74.1%, and that was while the Democratic Congress was fighting everything he did tooth and nail. Before the Democrats took over Congress under Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi, the debt was 64.8% of the GDP.

So you are wrong on both counts. We had national debt before Bush took office and he made it worse. That's the honest truth, but he did want to do things to reduce the debt that the Dems refused to cooperate on. The Dems had no plan to lower the debt. Don't forget that we had a national disaster (9/11) and a war in Iraq and Afghanistan. Under Obama the fighting in Iraq ended yet spending still went up at MORE than twice the rate it did under Bush. Obama is the bigger spender and the first president in American history to have the debt exceed the GDP, and the first time in history to have our credit rating downgraded. Let's see if you own up to those facts, Cook County.

(This is another source I used: http://www.skymachines.com/US-National-Debt-Per-Capita-Percent-of-GDP-and-by-Presidental-Term.htm)