Amidst all the cries of Barack Obama being the most prolific big government spender the nation has ever suffered, our president has actually been tighter with a buck than any United States president since Dwight D. Eisenhower. You will also notice that Republican presidents have been bigger spenders than Democratic presidents.
Check out the chart –
So, how have the Republicans managed to persuade Americans to buy into the whole “Obama as big spender” narrative?
It might have something to do with the first year of the Obama presidency where the federal budget increased a whopping 17.9% —going from $2.98 trillion to $3.52 trillion. I’ll bet you think that this is the result of the Obama sponsored stimulus plan that is so frequently vilified by the conservatives…but you would be wrong.
The first year of any incoming president term is saddled—for better or for worse—with the budget set by the president whom immediately precedes the new occupant of the White House. Indeed, not only was the 2009 budget the property of George W. Bush—and passed by the 2008 Congress—it was in effect four months before Barack Obama took the oath of office.
Accordingly, the first budget that can be blamed on our current president began in 2010 with the budgets running through and including including fiscal year 2013 standing as charges on the Obama account, even if a President Willard M. Romney takes over the office on January 20, 2013.
So, how do the actual Obama annual budgets look?
The 2009 budget that George W. Bush handed Obama spent $3.52 trillion; under Obama, in 2010 federal spending actually fell, to $3.46 trillion. Obama's 2013 budget calls for $3.58 trillion, very close to what the government spent in 2009. Contrast that record with Bush's 7.3 percent increase in spending during his first term, or Ronald Reagan's 8.7 percent increase during his first term.
Obama benefits from the technicality that his budget begins in 2010 and that inflation has been historically low but other presidents budget data are not "customized by these factors.
From FactCheck.org-
All of the yearly changes under Obama are well below the 7 percent average annual increase under Bush prior to fiscal 2009. And in that year — for which we assign most of the increase to Bush — the rise amounted to a staggering 17.9 percent
-FactCheck.org
No doubt, many will wish to give the credit to the efforts of the GOP controlled House of Representatives. However, you don’t get to have it both ways. Credit whom you will, but if you are truly interested in a fair analysis of the Obama years to date—at least when it comes to spending—you’re going to have to acknowledge that under the Obama watch, even President Reagan would have to give our current president a thumbs up when it comes to his record for stretching a dollar.
--from MarketWatch, Forbes and FactCheck.org
Check out the chart –
So, how have the Republicans managed to persuade Americans to buy into the whole “Obama as big spender” narrative?
It might have something to do with the first year of the Obama presidency where the federal budget increased a whopping 17.9% —going from $2.98 trillion to $3.52 trillion. I’ll bet you think that this is the result of the Obama sponsored stimulus plan that is so frequently vilified by the conservatives…but you would be wrong.
The first year of any incoming president term is saddled—for better or for worse—with the budget set by the president whom immediately precedes the new occupant of the White House. Indeed, not only was the 2009 budget the property of George W. Bush—and passed by the 2008 Congress—it was in effect four months before Barack Obama took the oath of office.
Accordingly, the first budget that can be blamed on our current president began in 2010 with the budgets running through and including including fiscal year 2013 standing as charges on the Obama account, even if a President Willard M. Romney takes over the office on January 20, 2013.
So, how do the actual Obama annual budgets look?
- In fiscal 2010 (the first Obama budget) spending fell 1.8% to $3.46 trillion.
- In fiscal 2011, spending rose 4.3% to $3.60 trillion.
- In fiscal 2012, spending is set to rise 0.7% to $3.63 trillion, according to the Congressional Budget Office’s estimate of the budget that was agreed to last August.
- Finally in fiscal 2013 — the final budget of Obama’s term — spending is scheduled to fall 1.3% to $3.58 trillion. Read the CBO's latest budget outlook.
The 2009 budget that George W. Bush handed Obama spent $3.52 trillion; under Obama, in 2010 federal spending actually fell, to $3.46 trillion. Obama's 2013 budget calls for $3.58 trillion, very close to what the government spent in 2009. Contrast that record with Bush's 7.3 percent increase in spending during his first term, or Ronald Reagan's 8.7 percent increase during his first term.
Obama benefits from the technicality that his budget begins in 2010 and that inflation has been historically low but other presidents budget data are not "customized by these factors.
From FactCheck.org-
Moderate Increases Since 2009
Since fiscal 2009 spending has increased only modestly. Total federal outlays actually went down 1.7 percent in fiscal 2010, for example, then rose a little more than 4 percent in the fiscal year that ended Sept. 30. Spending was projected by CBO to rise less than 1 percent in fiscal 2012. In fact, CBO reported on May 7 in its most recent monthly budget report that spending for the first seven months of the current fiscal year was 3.4 percent below the same period a year ago. That was mostly due to differences in timing of certain payments, but even adjusting for those, CBO figured spending is 0.8 percent lower so far this year.All of the yearly changes under Obama are well below the 7 percent average annual increase under Bush prior to fiscal 2009. And in that year — for which we assign most of the increase to Bush — the rise amounted to a staggering 17.9 percent
-FactCheck.org
No doubt, many will wish to give the credit to the efforts of the GOP controlled House of Representatives. However, you don’t get to have it both ways. Credit whom you will, but if you are truly interested in a fair analysis of the Obama years to date—at least when it comes to spending—you’re going to have to acknowledge that under the Obama watch, even President Reagan would have to give our current president a thumbs up when it comes to his record for stretching a dollar.
--from MarketWatch, Forbes and FactCheck.org
No comments :
Post a Comment