Forbes magazine is reporting that Barack Obama is the smallest government spender since Eisenhower. Yes, that’s right, under Obama, spending increased less than it did under both Bushes, Nixon, even Reagan.
The article tries to be even handed, even including a link to a Heritage Foundation rebuttal. Even so, the most interesting (and ironic) part are all the comments from right-wing nut jobs who freak out when confronted by stubborn facts.
UPDATE: Andrew Sullivan has a good overview and analysis of the dueling infographics, including the various arguments on both sides. Sullivan’s goes on to point out that by promising to slash taxes while at the same time massively increasing defense spending, Romney is no fiscal conservative.
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Why is it that the thinking is that Reagan had low growth in Gov spending when it was HUGE? Read Drift by Maddow.
Papa J, the Reagan era is cherry picked almost as much as The Bible and The Constitution.
Friend of mine tried to tell me Obama’s numbers don’t include the bailout and the buyout of fannie mae and freddie mac.
So I included those numbers plus the numbers of all the other presidents whose authorizations Obama didn’t directly dispute and what do you know, Obama’s spent more than all of the other presidents since Eisenhower.
Funny how that works, when you give him credit for something he had no say in he really does do all that spending the teapublicans said he did
I hope you included all the spending Obama did on the Apollo mission to the moon. After all, he didn’t dispute that! Oh, and you should include the Vietnam War!
That explains everything.
Interesting fact, presidents don’t really control the budget. But perhaps I am “cherry picking” the Constitution here. I try to not get my information from “a friend of mine” instead I do read from FactCheck.com and Politifact among others. This article was interesting in its coverage of both sides.
Lots of heat (and some light) on Obama’s spending
By Louis Jacobson (Politifact)
Published on Friday, May 25th, 2012 at 10:51 a.m.
Regardless of how you slice and dice the numbers it is clear that Republican statements that Obama has drastically increased spending and is “the least fiscally responsible President in history” are “Pants on Fire” lies.