WaPo/Politifact Fact Checks Pelosi’s Debt Chart: Shockingly, It’s A Total Crock And Obama Is The “Undisputed Debt King”…
I have a funny feeling we will be seeing a lot of this chart during the presidential campaign.
(PolitiFact) — A reader recently pointed us to a post on the website of MoveOn.org, a liberal group. The post features a bar graph titled, “Who Increased the Debt?” that offers figures for the past five presidents:
Ronald Reagan: Up 189 percent
George H.W. Bush: Up 55 percent
Bill Clinton: Up 37 percent
George W. Bush: Up 115 percent
Barack Obama: Up 16 percentWe can see why a liberal group would tout such numbers, since — if accurate — they offer powerful counterevidence to the claims by conservatives that President Barack Obama has been a spendthrift who’s set the nation on an unsustainable fiscal path.
But the reader who sent it to us was surprised to see the debt increase under Obama was so small. So we decided to check the numbers.
The chart actually comes from a Flickr page belonging to House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., who posted it on May 5, 2011. Specifically, the chart tracks “percent increase in public debt” for the five presidents during the following time periods — January 1981 to January 1989 (Reagan), January 1989 to January 1993 (George H.W. Bush), January 1993 to January 2001 (Clinton), January 2001 to January 2009 (George W. Bush), and January 2009 to April 2011 (Obama).
They gave it their “pants of fire” rating:
Reagan: Up 14.9 percentage points
George H.W. Bush: Up 7.1 percentage points
Clinton: Down 13.4 percentage points
George W. Bush: Up 5.6 percentage points
Obama: Up 21.9 percentage points (through December 2010 only)So by this measurement — potentially a more important one — Obama is the undisputed debt king of the last five presidents, rather than the guy who added a piddling amount to the debt, as Pelosi’s chart suggested. Of course, all this goes to show that statistics can be used — and misused — to bolster almost any argument. . . .
But in communicating which administrations contributed the most to growth of the debt, this chart is a failure. We rate it Pants on Fire.
HT: Ed M.
Posted by ZIP on Thursday, September 29, 2011, at 6:30 pm | 
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No matter what numbers or stats you use, Slick Willy still beats them all. How’s that taste Republicans??
Don’t forget that the dumb affirmative action’s turd’s numbers are for 2 years, not 8 as the other people in the chart.
Certainly bookmarking this for future reference…
Where’s the Pelosi “Money I Stole” chart?
Slick Willy still beats them all. How’s that taste Republicans??
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The lady in the blue dress knows…
…and I don’t think she was a Republican
“The lady in the blue dress knows…
…and I don’t think she was a Republican”
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Well if you are going to conflate the two issues, the one having absolutely nothing to do with the President’s job and also having should have never become a public issue, much less an impeachable one, so will I:
Blowjobs = debt reduction. Ladies (and statistically 10% of men) of the United States, you have a job to do. Strap on the knee pads and reapply the chapstick, we have a lot of debt to get rid of.
Percentages are relevant. Percentage of what? Let’s stick to apples when comparing apples, shall we?
The number to be concerned with is the ACTUAL dollars spent. Of course Obama’s number would look smaller based on a percentage of the debt increase, especially compared to what it was after Bush went on a spending spree. Percentages mean nothing. Obama has already spent more money than ALL OTHER PRESIDENTS COMBINED. This assclown has spent more in three years than the rest did 232 years! That includes Bush, Clinton, Bush and Reagan.
It’s very sad that Democrats are so uneducated, so brainwashed with false information and so totally devoid of the ability think for themselves that they continually fall for this shit. It’s simple idol worship and their party can do no wrong. There is no reason to even speak with democrats anymore. They are a lost cause.
Who the heck do they think they are fooling? Reagon wasn’t shooting $53,000 missles at groups of 2 or 3 bad guys. Only obummers team does that. His team also gives great piles of American money to corporations whose high-rankers pocket the money and then call in bankruptcy……
Screw obama.
“No matter what numbers or stats you use, Slick Willy still beats them all. How’s that taste Republicans??”
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Like eye of Newt, perhaps?
Newt Gingrich and the end of 40 years of Dem rule
6 years of Republican controlled Congress
“Contract with America”
Taxpayer Relief Act of 1997
Clinton also signed the DOMA and “don’t ask, don’t tell” – how do you like them apples?
Nobody’s reading this right. It’s Congress that does the spending, POTUS just signs things and asks for others. The highest numbers are when Democrats control Congress the majority of the term. Republicans held it 6 of Clinton’s 8 years and they reduced debt, spending and balanced the budget faster than Bill would even make a guess at. Reagan and Bush 43 had Democrat to split control and the results come from compromising with the democrats (I.E. more spending and increased government size). Democrats can’t lie as good as they can spend!
should have never become a public issue, much less an impeachable one
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Clinton wasn’t impeached for the sex…
It was perjury and obstruction…
@Rupaula
1. Who was it that forced Clinton to inact welfare reform? A Repulican Congress
2. Who was it that passed the biggest tax increase in the history of this country? Bill Clinton.
3. Who was it that just barely escaped the fallout from the dot.com bubble blowout, so that the financial damage didn’t truly come to fruition until the next President took office? Bill Clinton.
4. Who was it that expanded the affordable housing programs and legislatively helped Fannie and Freddie get into the subprime loan business? Bill Clinton.
5. Who was it that took the lion’s share of the financial shock from the dot.com bubble blowout (something his administration had nothing to do with) and all the repercussions from 9/11 during his first year in office? Bush.
6. Who was it that took the fallout from the disaster that was the housing bubble (something his administration had nothing to do with and tried to stop) during the last 6 months of his administration? Bush
7. Who is back to pushing (and threatening banks) for more affordable housing programs and gimmicks (such as counting unemployment checks as regular income) even as we are trying to dig ourselves out from under the last disaster? Obama.
Sorry but aint it congress that actually spends the money?
A potus can ask for the world, but the actual spending does not happen by such. only congress can spend your money!
To be more clear, the 435 members of the house have the actual control over the budget.
Regan increased govt revenue to a point they could have eliminated the national debt, but Congress, many who still serve because voters think they are getting something out of them. They are not.
Congress, change it ASAP!
Re-elect no one in 2012!
Currently only citizens can create or enforce Term limits.
Ahhhh… Term Limits!!
If only they were in force.
Six for the House
Two for the Senate
No exceptions ever!
If such were in effect… You’d have no Pelosi, No Reid, No McCain, No Durban, No Schummer etc…
Kin youse feel the clean air???
Uhhh…Didn’t Slick Willy also change the accounting rules so that the Social Security “black box” money was considered a cash asset? That reduced the deficit (but not so much the national debt) immediately without having to cut one slime dime out of his spending plans.
Bloggers here get my abject apologies. I pointed some demmo troll to my avatar which is the line graph you are seeing, in my initial post. I took down my own post within the hour after someone threw on the Pelosi bar chart and made it look like I was referring to that misleading and self serving construct. Instead I replied that the proper bar chart would break the data out in Biennial Congressional sessions, not compare a sitting two term eight year lame duck presidency with a one term of a lame duck of the opposite party.
Lame duck here is intended to mean presiding over a House of the opposition party that in all cases roadmaps and allocates the amount of spending, and does so regardless of the eventual revenue collected and the unemployment outlays that determine the shortfalls. Lastly, without correction to the insidious longterm dollar purchaing power devaluation from inflation you cannot directly relate a dollar from twenty four years ago.
I see my avatar is blank, sorry. Rob, your blue dress response to taste was choice!
For those who were smart enough to ask where Clinton stole the money to drop the debt, his absolute rape of our military readiness through offering early retirement and numerous base closings made our later fight on two fronts in the same region of the globe impossible resulting in getting many of our soldiers killed by lack of numbers, equipment and support.
Clinton committed most of this rape of our military in his first term but, in order to keep as many votes of the ignorant as he could he gave them a massive raise in pay right before the election.
Obviously, his deception worked.