One of the reasons I dont have much of an appetite for memes is how cherry-picked numbers like this one are used to influence opinion. Try reading this excerpt from a Factcheck.org piece and see if you feel as warm and fuzzy and indignant about it. To be sure, Obama would have preferred a higher rate of federal spending than he was able to get through Congress after Republicans took control of the House in January 2011. Obama agreed to cuts as part of budget deals with congressional Republicans, including one that averted the “fiscal cliff” and another that ended a government shutdown. But the chronic gap between what the government spends and what it collects in revenues continues. Under current law, the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office projects the current year’s deficit will be $492 billion, and will fall to $469 billion next year. But then CBO projects annual deficits will start to rise again in future years, with no end to the red ink in sight. Currently, total federal debt stands at nearly $17.6 trillion, which is 66 percent higher than when Obama took office. That figure includes money the government owes to itself, chiefly through the Social Security trust funds. But when it comes to what the government owes to the public — a figure that economists consider more important — the debt almost exactly doubled since Obama took office. As of June 30, debt owed to the public was just under $12.6 trillion, an increase of 99.2 percent under Obama. At the current rate, that will reach 100 percent any day now.
Posted on: Sun, 14 Dec 2014 16:54:47 +0000
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