Remember when?

[Al Wohlstrom]

Remember when Obama said Bush was unpatriotic for increasing the debt from $5.7 trillion to $10.6 trillion over his 8 year term, a total of $4.9 trillion? Obama has increased the debt from $10.6 trillion to $18.1 trillion over 7 years, a total of $7.5 trillion with one less war to finance. What does that make the Obama?

Flashback: Obama calls adding $4 trillion to national debt “unpatriotic” « Hot Air

 

[Mike Pass]

A politician being a lying two faced hypocrite! Surely not? Zut alors! What next?
Cheers
Mike

 

[Bob Halsall]

It doesn't matter if it $10 trillion or $20 trillion it can never be re paid, the fed will keep printing money as long as it can.

 

[Pete McCluskey.]

It doesn't matter if it $10 trillion or $20 trillion it can never be re paid, the fed will keep printing money as long as it can.

True Dat, unfortunately.

 

[Jeff Young]

Welfare Wohlstrom, your numbers are off. YOu have to compare to percentage of GDP. At which, St. Reagan (the guy who had NOTHING to apologize for according to you) was the worst.

Obama has cut the deficit in half, after inheriting a mess from Bush. Bush inherited a SURPLUS from Clinton and blew it on hookers and blow.

Democrats: shitty politicians, but still better for the economy than Republicans.

GOP Presidents Have Been the Worst Contributors to the Federal Debt - The Atlantic

 

[Bob Halsall]

It also makes no difference who you vote for. All politicians are the same, corrupt...

 

[Pete McCluskey.]

It also makes no difference who you vote for. All politicians are the same, corrupt...

True dat, unfortunately.

 

[Doug S.]

I don't usually join in the Obama bashing...but I will admit he seems to be spending an awful lot of money!!!

Doug

 

[Charlie Farley]

Nod to Pete,

True dat , unfortunately...

:dead::dead::dead::dead::dead::dead::dead:

Hey guys result...
I stumbled across a website dedicated to GT40's...

 

[Brian Kissel]

I'm with Andrew on this one.

 

[Al Wohlstrom]

The BUDGET deficit is compared to the GDP, Clinton had a BUDGET surplus of $368 billion at the end of his presidency due to the 104th Congress Balanced Budget Act, a republican Congress, a lame duck Clinton. Clinton added to the National debt by $1.7 trillion over his presidency. The National debt when Bush came into office was $5.7 trillion, When Obama came into office the National debt was $10.6 trillion, it is now $18.1 trillion, my numbers are correct.
U.S. National Debt Clock : Real Time.
The Budget deficit and National debt are separate issues. The Budget deficit is the amount spent in excess of the budget. The National debt is the amount we borrowed to pay for the excess in budget over the amount of money taken in and the budget deficit which is the amount spent over the budget. The budget deficit can be made smaller by having a larger, more than we can afford, budget to start with. It's still money we have to borrow.

 

[Jeff Young]

Uh, no crap. You don't have to explain to me the difference between deficit (calculated on a yearly basis and added to the debt) and the debt (the total we owe.

The point from my link is that Republican Presidents -- with St. Reagan the worst -- have added far more debt as a percentage of GDP (which is the ONLY way to compare across eras) than Democrats. And Bush added more than Obama.

Obama has reduced the deficit to manageable levels as a percentage of GDP. As a result, GDP has grown faster than the debt, and debt as a percentage of GDP has gone down.

Clinton had a surplus the last few years in office. He handed that off to Bush, who blew it on Medicare expansion and two wars.

You need to (a) learn more about how these things work and (b) realize that despite their flaws, history, numbers, facts and stuff show that Democrats are better for the debt and deficit than Republicans since WWII.

Now, why is that? Well, it's pretty simple:

1. Republicans believe in teh naive and frankly stupid idea that cutting tax rates at levels far below the laffer curve will increase revenues. They don't.

2. They then couple lower tax rates with increased spending on the military (Reagan), or wars and Medicare (Bush I and II).

The result? More deficit, more debt.

 

[Al Wohlstrom]

Once again, the $368 billion surplus when Clinton left office was due to the Republican run 104 Congress Balance Budget Act. The National debt rose by $4.9 trillion under Bush and $7.5 trillion so far under Obama. Debt is the result of budgets and deficit larger than the money the Federal government takes in. So if the National Debt is $18.1 trillion now and Obama alone as a democrat is responsible for $7.5 trillion (41%) of that debt, how do you figure that over time the democrats are spending less?

 

[Al Wohlstrom]

It's not just the deficit that's added to the debt, it's the budget excess plus the deficit.

 

[Jeff Young]

What is it about "inflation" and "the time value of money" that you don't understand? Using raw figures like that to compare debt over time is meaningless.

As a percentage of GDP, which is a relevant constant, Obama has added less debt than Bush. And far less than St. Reagan. More importantly, he has reduced deficits, rather than increased them.

Our debt to GDP and deficit to GDP ratios are now well within what most economists view as sustainable, and much less than most European countries and Japan.

And what the hell is that last post all about? The deficit is the yearly difference between Government revenues, and Government expenditures, which I think you are now calling the "budget excess." That IS the definition of deficit. You spend more than you take in -- that is the deficit.

 

[Al Wohlstrom]

The budget is always more than the amount the government brings in, and then they overspend the budget. That would be the budget deficit. I guess inflation would explain Bush's "unpatriotic" $4.9 trillion as well. You can't spin this, Obama has spent 41% of the total US debt to date.

 

[Jeff Young]

Holy fuck I'm arguing with someone who doesn't even understand the concepts of surplus and deficit.

NO. Your first sentence is one million percent stupid and incorrect. The budget is the what is approved at the start of the year as far as what the government intends to spend. In years where tax revenues exceed the budgeted spend, there is a SURPLUS. This has happened several times since WWII, the last with Clinton. This REDUCES the debt.

On your last point, simple analogy since that is what we apparently have to have here.

If I owe $1 but have $10000 in the bank am I in better or worse shape than if I owe .50 cents but have $1 in the bank?

Obama has added to the raw debt. At the same time, GDP -- analagous to wha we have in teh bank, has grown significantly - the $10,000 in the above analogy.

Do you now see why raw debt is irrelevant when comparing across time and you have to use percentage of GDP?

If not, frankly, you aren't smart enough to be voting.

 

[Al Wohlstrom]

The US budget that is approved by Congress and the Senate is always more than tax revenues, the amount spent over the budget is deficit. Why do you think we are $18.1 trillion dollars in debt. You actually thought the budget is less than tax revenues? It never is. Your one of the people that Jay Leno spoke to on the street. A lawyer, that's scary.

You'll notice inflation is less 2009-2015 So much for your inflation spin.
Yearly inflation 2001-20015
Jan 1, 2015 -0.09%
Jan 1, 2014 1.58%
Jan 1, 2013 1.59%
Jan 1, 2012 2.93%
Jan 1, 2011 1.63%
Jan 1, 2010 2.63%
Jan 1, 2009 0.03%
Jan 1, 2008 4.28%
Jan 1, 2007 2.08%
Jan 1, 2006 3.99%
Jan 1, 2005 2.97%
Jan 1, 2004 1.93%
Jan 1, 2003 2.60%
Jan 1, 2002 1.14%
Jan 1, 2001 3.73%

 

[Jeff Young]

Good grief. You don't understand the definition of deficit and surplus. We've had a surplus -- where more money is collected than spent -- on many occasions.

Inflation "spin?" WTF? Your OWN numbers show 40% inflation over that time period. What does that tell you?

Unbelievable. Just totally unbelievable.

 

[Al Wohlstrom]

It's a "budget" surplus, and if the budget exceeds the tax revenues as it always does, then it's a play on words. When Clinton entered office the National debt was $4.18 trillion, when he left it was $5.72 trillion. Debt went up $1.5 trillion during his presidency. There was a "budget" surplus of $368 billion, so obviously the budgets were more the tax revenue. Smoke and mirrors on a huge scale. Here comes Jay.