General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsFacebook meme: Debt added
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
(49,313 posts)Richardo
(38,391 posts)Motown_Johnny
(22,308 posts)$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
(9,933 posts)This will be very helpful
Richardo
(38,391 posts)Make HER supply the proof.
spanone
(135,919 posts)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
(9,933 posts)Shes very nice and not typically political so wikipedia will probably be perfect. Thanks again!
Roselma
(540 posts)zbdent
(35,392 posts)the "true believers" ...
Proud Public Servant
(2,097 posts)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
(5,729 posts)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
(9,933 posts)Fuzz
(8,827 posts)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
(7,800 posts)Fuzz
(8,827 posts)Projections are much lower than that,