Here is a chart that I constructed from the Treasury's own data that looks at Federal spending. It goes all the way back to 2001, which was the start of the Bush Administration.
As you can see, spending under George W. Bush went up every single year of his presidency, then spending peaked in 2009 and has been going down ever since.
Yet Obama has allowed Conservatives to dictate the national conversation on this and has labeled him an "out of control" spender when it is completely not true.
Let me be clear: I am not making a political statement here. I did not vote for Obama in the last two presidential elections. (In the last one I didn't even vote.) This is merely about the truth and it reflects the Obama Administration's utter ineptitude at getting the truth out.
9 comments:
Great post, Mike.
As I like to tell people, George W. Bush was an excellent Keynesian.
While I'm a dyed-in-the-wool MMTer, this particular graph doesn't do much to substantially prove the basis for MMT theory.
Critics of MMT will point out that apparently all that spending from 2001 through 2008 did no sustainable good as it all culminated in a collapse anyway.
Where would we be right now if Bush had kept spending flat through that time period? That's where the argument can be made, if it is at all possible to demonstrate that scenario.
Can you please explain how or why your data is different than the data found at two the below links?
http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/budget/historicals
http://www.usgovernmentspending.com/spending_chart_1998_2018USb_F0f#copypaste
Also, if your chart is accurate, wouldn't the US still be in recession from 2009?
BB,
Mike uses the cash basis numbers from the DTS and the OMB people use some sort of accrual basis numbers from the MTS...
DTS terms are "Deposits and Withdrawals"...
MTS terms are "Receipts and Outlays"...
They differ substantially.
rsp,
Mike, thats ridiculous, how could anyone vote for a republican? And McCain, really? I am no Democrat but the conservative and republican pov is mostly illegitimate and hypocritical
Are Republicans really Democrats who talk about cuts but invariably end up spending more?
Maybe a President Rumsfeld would spend so much on "defense" that the US economy would finally overcome the present slump.
:)
How the hell are they supposed to get the truth out when they don't know HOW to TELL the truth?
The older I get the more I realize that everyone is essentially the same persons I knew I high school. DA's and assistant DA's, or state congressmen, they are the same ignorant fools I knew from my youth.
Let the kids know... these guys are just large children with all the same corrupt and foolish tendencies everyone they know has.
quite a personal revelation...
Post a Comment