Obama smallest Government spender since Eisenhower

[dmcowen674]

3-3-2013

http://www.forbes.com/sites/rickung...isenhower-would-you-believe-its-barack-obama/


Who Is The Smallest Government Spender Since Eisenhower? Would You Believe It's Barack Obama?


It’s enough to make even the most ardent Obama cynic scratch his head in confusion.


Amidst all the cries of Barack Obama being the most prolific big government spender the nation has ever suffered, Marketwatch is reporting that our president has actually been tighter with a buck than any United States president since Dwight D. Eisenhower.

So, how have the Republicans managed to persuade Americans to buy into the whole “Obama as big spender” narrative?

The first year of any incoming president term is saddled—for better or for worse—with the budget set by the president whom immediately precedes the new occupant of the White House.

Of course, the Heritage Foundation is having none of it, attempting to counter the actual numbers by pretending that the spending initiated by the Bush Administration is the fault of Obama.

contact Rick at thepolicypage@gmail.com

NOTE: Some of the comments to this piece have gotten well out of control, involving threats and obscenity to other commenters and myself.

While I welcome and encourage comments from all points of view, obscene remarks are removed and not tolerated.

 

[dmcowen674]

There is no escaping the fact of history.

It's all Bush's fault and still is.

 

[glenn1]

Who Is The Smallest Government Spender Since Eisenhower? Would You Believe It's Barack Obama?

That's a good start, now let's push it back to Calvin Coolidge.

 

[frowertr]

Well I bet he easily leads the ex-presidents in playing golf and taking vacations. Must be the only commander-in-chief who regularly blows taxpayers dollars flying him and his family all over the god damn globe on "getaways".

 

[Jaskalas]

Budgets with the 2009 bailouts as the new baseline thereafter, and he's not a spender. Bull!@#$.

And who is fighting austerity and fighting TOOTH AND NAIL for unbridled increases in spending? eh?

 

[Screech]

Well I bet he easily leads the ex-presidents in playing golf and taking vacations. Must be the only commander-in-chief who regularly blows taxpayers dollars flying him and his family all over the god damn globe on "getaways".

I assume that was sarcasm, but on the slight chance it is not (as I have heard the claim made before) :

http://politic365.com/obamas-vacations-of-any-president-bush-racked-up-the-most/

Even President Franklin D. Roosevelt, who was in office 12 years from 1933 to 1945, was on vacation less days than President Bush at 958 days. Calls to several Presidential Libraries reveal that no President can come close to Bush’s 1,020 days on vacation in an 8 year period.

... In 2005, the Washington Post noted President Bush’s frequent vacations in a piece titled Vacationing Bush Poised to Set a Record as Bush took the longest single vacation — 5 weeks — of any President in 36 years.

President Bush spent 32% of his presidency on vacation.
...

President Obama has been on vacation 78 days from 2009 to 2011. At the three year mark into their first terms, George W. Bush spent 180 days at his ranch in Crawford, Texas and Ronald Reagan spent 112 vacation days at his ranch in California. Of course, staff was around all three Presidents on vacations and all White House aides argue that the commander-in-chief is never “out of touch” with work.

edit: I mean, its not like this stuff is easily available to anyone with an internet connection....

Re the actual thread subject: its kinda shenanigans to say he is the smallest spender. Smallest GROWER, sure, but not smallest spender.

 

[frowertr]

I assume that was sarcasm, but on the slight chance it is not (as I have heard the claim made before) :

http://politic365.com/obamas-vacations-of-any-president-bush-racked-up-the-most/



edit: I mean, its not like this stuff is easily available to anyone with an internet connection....

Nope. Not sarcasm. I think you need to remember that Bush was in office for 8 years so comparing him to Obama right now is apples and oranges. That article also doesn't include Obama's vacations during 2012.

At any rate, lets see how much "partying" Obama does with this next 4 years and then revisit...

 

[MomentsofSanity]

Well I bet he easily leads the ex-presidents in playing golf and taking vacations. Must be the only commander-in-chief who regularly blows taxpayers dollars flying him and his family all over the god damn globe on "getaways".

It really is amazing the nonsense that people will want to believe simply because they want to believe it so they can drag it out to attack the man. You just sound foolish.

 

[frowertr]

It really is amazing the nonsense that people will want to be lieve simply because they want to believe it so they can drag it out to attack the man. You just sound foolish.

Lol. Calling Obama a "man" would be a compliment...

 

[MomentsofSanity]

Nope. Not sarcasm. I think you need to remember that Bush was in office for 8 years so comparing him to Obama right now is apples and oranges. That article also doesn't include Obama's vacations during 2012.

At any rate, lets see how much "partying" Obama does with this next 4 years and then revisit...

Obama took 84 days in his first term. Bush was well over a couple hundred at the end of his first term.

 

[Screech]

Nope. Not sarcasm. I think you need to remember that Bush was in office for 8 years so comparing him to Obama right now is apples and oranges. That article also doesn't include Obama's vacations during 2012.

At any rate, lets see how much "partying" Obama does with this next 4 years and then revisit...

Emphasis mine.

President Obama has been on vacation 78 days from 2009 to 2011. At the three year mark into their first terms, George W. Bush spent 180 days at his ranch in Crawford, Texas and Ronald Reagan spent 112 vacation days at his ranch in California.

Emphasis also mine. I guess there's always room for another altroll in ATPN; sophitia hasn't been posting around here so much lately.

oooo, I have an idea. Let's both paypal a mod (EK or Charles or someone) $1,000 dollars. If obama has more vacation than W. bush after 8 years you take the money, if W. Bush has more than obama after 8 years, I take the money. Deal?

The real question wrt budgets, I would say, is that at some point we need to decide when the budget has to come under control. In past examples we usually have a faster recovery and so the logical course is to overspend to stabilize the economy, then do the opposite once things are booming again. But if we are still in the midst of overspending being required, when does that end? A year from now? 5 years? 10? When our credit rating starts to drop (again....)?

edit: formatting

 

[Brainonska511]

That's a good start, now let's push it back to Calvin Coolidge.

Oh yes, the good old days.

 

[Smoblikat]

There is no escaping the fact of history.

It's all Bush's fault and still is.

In 4 1/2yrs hussein has given us 6.5T in debt. In hundreds of years 42 other men got us to 10T in debt.

Please do go on about blaming bush............

 

[NoStateofMind]

another left vs right, divide against ourselves topic/artical

 

[MomentsofSanity]

In 4 1/2yrs hussein has given us 6.5T in debt. In hundreds of years 42 other men got us to 10T in debt.

Please do go on about blaming bush............

That's a great parroting line. Question is can you explain how Obama increased it by 6.5T? Can you speak to what specific spending additions he made? What was in place before his term began?

I'm betting you will skip right over actually supporting the claim. I guess you actually would have to pretend Bush never existed to pin it all on Obama.

 

[Smoblikat]

That's a great parroting line. Question is can you explain how Obama increased it by 6.5T? Can you speak to what specific spending additions he made? What was in place before his term began?

I'm betting you will skip right over actually supporting the claim.

How the frack should I know? They havent passed a budget in years.

Though the stimulus, UNLIMITED QE3(or are we at 4 now?), Obamacare (ACA) sprang to mind immediately. As do obama phones and the expansion of social programs. Plus his incessant attacks on medical marijuana dispensaries for NO reason.

 

[MomentsofSanity]

How the frack should I know? They havent passed a budget in years.

Though the stimulus, UNLIMITED QE3(or are we at 4 now?), Obamacare (ACA) sprang to mind immediately. As do obama phones and the expansion of social programs. Plus his incessant attacks on medical marijuana dispensaries for NO reason.

So in other words, no, you can't support what you claim. Just better to say it and believe it's true huh? And i love the throw in of "Obamaphones". Like he created the program.

 

[HamburgerBoy]

Looks like the article is talking about growth in spending, not actual spending. Misleading troll thread title is misleading. lol @ their imagined rebuttal to the Heritage Foundation.

 

[monovillage]

"Figures don't lie, but liars do figure. "
~S. Clemens ?

"Torture numbers, and they'll confess to anything." ~Gregg Easterbrook

"Facts are stubborn things, but statistics are more pliable." ~Unknown

 

[Smoblikat]

So in other words, no, you can't support what you claim. Just better to say it and believe it's true huh? And i love the throw in of "Obamaphones". Like he created the program.

I think I supported it quite well. ACA, Unlimited quantitative easing, the stimulus. His raids on a plant..............think about that for a second.........he is using OUR money to have armed men attack a fucking flower.

 

[MomentsofSanity]

I think I supported it quite well. ACA, Unlimited quantitative easing, the stimulus. His raids on a plant..............think about that for a second.........he is using OUR money to have armed men attack a fucking flower.

You cite zero costs related to the increase of the national debt. That's not really supporting your claim now is it?

 

[Smoblikat]

You cite zero costs related to the increase of the national debt. That's not really supporting your claim now is it?

I think you are a condescending dick. If you want numbers go find them for yourself. Here a few things to research:
Obamas expansion of social programs
ACA (and how we pay for it now but dont get any benifits)
The stimulus
QE3 and how much it costs/will cost
his MMJ raids
Back during his first term he doubled the amount of troops overseas. Research this one in particular, he first cut many troops then propped the number up to double what bush had left
Do I even need to mention solyndra and his other various failed "green energy" companies

Not on the topic of the debt, but more about civilian money. He is delaying the keystone pipeline (thankfully it looks to be moving foward now) and forcing us to buy gas and oil from countries that want to blow us up

 

[michal1980]

year old article? Liberal circle jerk having to vomit things already discussed?

 

[Anarchist420]

This doesn't surprise me as Democrats have traditionally grown the size of the govt not quite as much as Republicans.

That doesn't excuse the fact that he's been spending too much.

 

[cubby1223]

3-3-2013

http://www.forbes.com/sites/rickung...isenhower-would-you-believe-its-barack-obama/


Who Is The Smallest Government Spender Since Eisenhower? Would You Believe It's Barack Obama?

Wow, that article is about the biggest pile of $#!% I've seen in quite a while.

The measurement for who is the biggest spender is not based on spending, nor on gdp comparisons - it is based on how much the budget has changed since he took office.

Obama came in with an overly massive out of control budget due to the stimulus. He came into office with the largest budget ever, so he gets to continue running the largest budgets ever and takes credit for being the smallest government spender?

Only in the mind of a complete (f/t)ool.