Facebook meme: Debt added

[abelenkpe]

Debt added by previous 43 presidents = 6.3 Trillion dollars
Debt added by Obama = 6.5 trillion dollars

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An old friend of mine posted this on her page. Anyone have a polite way to refute this? Any help appreciated!

[NMDemDist2]

1. a quick google is all you need

http://www.skymachines.com/US-National-Debt-Per-Capita-Percent-of-GDP-and-by-Presidental-Term.htm

[Richardo]

3. Nicely done

[Motown_Johnny]

9. nice graph but somewhat out of date

$13.53 trillion was quite a while ago

The green area would be a little bit larger but still nothing like Shrub's


No to mention he spent all that money while destroying the economy while Pres. Obama is spending money to repair the damage.

[abelenkpe]

10. Thank you!

This will be very helpful

[Richardo]

2. I'd refute it by posting the word 'false'

Make HER supply the proof.

[spanone]

4. ...

The Obama Administration also made four significant accounting changes to more accurately report the total spending by the federal government. The four changes were:
accounting for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan (”overseas military contingencies”) in the budget rather than through the use of supplemental appropriations;
assuming the Alternative Minimum Tax will be indexed for inflation;
accounting for the full costs of Medicare reimbursements; and
anticipating the inevitable expenditures for natural disaster relief.
According to administration officials, these changes will make the debt over ten years look $2.7 trillion larger than it would otherwise appear.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_United_States_public_debt

this is probably way to nuanced (truthful) for a bagger to comprehend

[abelenkpe]

12. Thank you!

Shes very nice and not typically political so wikipedia will probably be perfect. Thanks again!

[Roselma]

5. Just give 'em facts and graphs:

http://www.ritholtz.com/blog/2011/10/understanding-federal-debt-presidential-budgets-fiscal-year-edition/

and


http://www.nytimes.com/imagepages/2011/07/24/opinion/sunday/24editorial_graph2.html?ref=sunday

[zbdent]

7. like reality has anything to do with

the "true believers" ...

[Proud Public Servant]

6. Well, for one thing

The national debt was over $10 trillion when Obama took office, so the $6.3 trillion under "all previous presidents" is a lie.

Second, Obama hasn't added $6.5 trillion to the debt; it's projected that $6.2 trillion will be added by teh last day of his first term.

Third, never miss a chance to point out that the items adding the most to the debt are Iraq, Afghanistan, and the Bush tax cuts.

Fourth, if your friend has brains and can follow a complex argument, note that the year under Obama that saw the biggest increase in the debt -- 2009 -- was a year that we were operating under a budget signed into law by Shrub. Obama didn't have a thing to do with the allocation of that money.

FYI, the meme is distorting the fact that the debt, under Obama, has in fact increased more than under the first 41 presidents combined, as reported here:

http://cnsnews.com/news/article/obama-has-now-increased-debt-more-all-presidents-george-washington-through-george-hw

[OnlinePoker]

8. Tell her to go to the Treasury Department

Total Debt on Jan 31, 2009 - $10.632 Trillion
Total Debt on Dec 31, 2011 - $15.223 Trillion

Obama has added $4.591 Trillion to the debt since taking office.

http://www.treasurydirect.gov/govt/reports/pd/mspd/mspd.htm

[abelenkpe]

11. Thank you! nt

[Fuzz]

13. I told a FB friend the numbers can't be right because Bush left with over 10 Trillion in debt. Her

response: "It says Debt "added" by previous presidents, not where it stands."


/sigh

I pointed her to http://www.treasurydirect.gov/govt/reports/pd/histdebt/histdebt.htm

[Hosnon]

14. Even if that were accurate, it would still need to be adjusted for inflation. nt.

[Fuzz]

15. I was told that the first 43 doesn't include interest accumulated. But it seems the second one is.

Projections are much lower than that,