[quote=EconProf]
For starters, I voted for Ron Paul.[/quote]
As an unaffiliated voter, I wasn’t allowed to. 🙁
[quote]Your site did indeed show Bush’s last fiscal year deficit (emphasis added) to be something over 1 trillion.[/quote]
No it didn’t show the “deficit”, look more closely. Those aren’t the “deficit” numbers put out to sucker the press and the rest of us. No, they are the bottom line numbers of where the national debt stood at the end of each fiscal year.
[quote]But the site did not show how it arrived at that figure, or explain why that figure is more than double all other reports of the annual deficit. Do they use cash basis? Accrural? Social security unfunded future liability total? If so, under what assumptions? I can’t tell.[/quote]
This is getting a little frustrating. Try reading the huge text at the top of the page:
Historical Debt Outstanding – Annual 2000 – 2008
[quote]But your site[/quote]
Dude, it’s the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s site, not mine.
[quote]did lead me to links published by the Treasury Department which support my claim that the last Bush deficit was in the neighborhood of $435 billion: Monthly Treasury Statements (MTS). These show monthly deficits and surpluses and I believe are the source of news releases the media relies upon. Totaling the fiscal year months comes to $435 billion, not far from the media’s $442 billion.[/quote]
To repeat: that’s a bogus number that gets manipulated every which way to suit political needs. It includes every dime the government takes in, including stuff that should NOT be on the general fund books.
[quote]Of course last fall the deficit was on its way up sharply under Bush. But let’s agree on historical facts before we debate whether Bush or Obama is the most reckless spender.[/quote]
But who is the biggest spender? To repeat: Bush’s unfunded Medicare Part D benefits dwarf anything else going on right now. Also recall that Fannie, Freddie, AIG, and other rat holes were the targets of Hank’s famous bazooka, and Bush let him fire it. It’s not like Obama can walk away from those and other follies.
Having said that, I think Obama is listening to a bunch of misguided Keynesians and I really don’t like the hit GM’s bondholders took without due process, among other things, so don’t think I’m drinking the Kool-Aid.
