Let's See How They Lie Their Way Out Of This

Just some plain, simple facts:

As the 2012 Presidential season begins to heat up so does the lying. One of the main issues should be (in a rational world) the economy. While I can understand why both parties will lamely try to dodge the issue, it will eventually come up and the lies will start pouring out. Unfortunately facts are facts and I finally found the time to compile the facts. The numbers are taken from www.treasurydirect.gov which may explain why dates are all September 30 instead of December 31. I also added the Presidents and their term with the Debt they inherited and the Debt they left. I separated the terms by using bold print. Since most people don't own a calculator (or don't know how to use one) I did a little math for you.

I put this together because I'm tired of hearing “unbiased” analysis and the results of “impartial” committees. I've been interested in this particular aspect of government ever since I heard that the National Debt had passed the $1,000,000,000,000 (Aside: I always write out those big dollar amounts. “One trillion dollars” doesn't nearly make the point a 1 followed by 12 zeroes makes) mark.

So here's the raw data with a few facts concerning the Presidential administrations associated with the Debt. Sorry I didn't lay it out neater but I lack the computer skill to format it any better without putting in a lot of time and I just don't want to bother. Besides, fancy graphs and colorful charts are designed to influence your perception.

And last, and most important, I am not unbiased. I've gone over these numbers many times in the past and things look pretty clear to me. I'll save that for the end.

09/30/2010 13,561,623,030,891.79

09/30/2009 11,909,829,003,511.75

09/30/2008 10,024,724,896,912.49

09/30/2007 9,007,653,372,262.48

09/30/2006 8,506,973,899,215.23

09/30/2005 7,932,709,661,723.50

09/30/2004 7,379,052,696,330.32

09/30/2003 6,783,231,062,743.62

09/30/2002 6,228,235,965,597.16

09/30/2001 5,807,463,412,200.06

09/30/2000 5,674,178,209,886.86

09/30/1999	5,656,270,901,615.43
09/30/1998	5,526,193,008,897.62
09/30/1997	5,413,146,011,397.34
09/30/1996	5,224,810,939,135.73
09/29/1995	4,973,982,900,709.39
09/30/1994	4,692,749,910,013.32
09/30/1993	4,411,488,883,139.38
09/30/1992	4,064,620,655,521.66
09/30/1991	3,665,303,351,697.03
09/28/1990	3,233,313,451,777.25
09/29/1989	2,857,430,960,187.32
09/30/1988	2,602,337,712,041.16
09/30/1987	2,350,276,890,953.00
09/30/1986	2,125,302,616,658.42
09/30/1985	* 1,823,103,000,000.00
09/30/1984	* 1,572,266,000,000.00
09/30/1983	* 1,377,210,000,000.00
09/30/1982	* 1,142,034,000,000.00
09/30/1981	* 997,855,000,000.00
09/30/1980	* 907,701,000,000.00
09/30/1979	* 826,519,000,000.00
09/30/1978	* 771,544,000,000.00
09/30/1977	* 698,840,000,000.00
06/30/1976	* 620,433,000,000.00
06/30/1975	* 533,189,000,000.00

Gerald Ford 1974-1977 $533,189.000.000 to $698,840,000,000 = $165,651,000,000 or an increase of almost 25%. That comes out to about $3,100 for every man, woman and child in the US.

Jimmy Carter 1977-1981 $698,840,000,000.00 to $997,855,000,000.00 = $299015000000 or an increase of about 30%. That comes out to about $4348 per person.

Ronald Reagan 1981-1989 $997,855,000,000.00 to $2,857,430,960,187.32 = $1,859,575,960,187.32 or an increase of slightly less then 100%. That comes out to about $11,577 per person.

George H.W. Bush 1989-1993 $2,857,430,960,187.32 to $4,411,488,883,139.38 = $1,554,057,922,952 or an increase of about 46%. That's about $17,115 per person.

Bill Clinton 1993-2001 $4,411,488,883,139.38 to $5,807,463,412,200.06 = $1,395,974,529,061 or an increase of about 30%. That's about $20,636 per person.

George W. Bush 2001-2009 $5,807,463,412,200.06 to $11,909,829,003,511.75 = $6,102,365,591,311 or increase over 100%. That's about $39,000 per person.

Barack Obama 2009- present $11,909,829,003,511.75 to $15,503,030,151,312 = $3,593,201,147,801 or an increase of about 32%. It's currently $49,631 per person.

So, what to do with the facts? If your a politician you can do one of two things: You can take the most common route and lie about the historical data or, being used to lying, you can embellish the facts with outrageous claims since a basic rule in politics is that you never let the facts speak for themselves.

It should go without saying that the raw data needs to be viewed in context with the events at the time. Of course I have already done that. That's one of the reasons I compiled this list. In future posts I'll be referencing it to prove various points. In the meantime, here are some facts that are clear and concise and can easily be verified by the above:

1. From the above data it is very clear that in the years listed above, we have never had a balanced budget. NEVER! When constructing a budget you can lie in any number of ways with any kind of accounting method you choose but the Debt is a nasty thing. It's the money we borrowed to cover expenses we don't have the income to meet. Consequently, at some point the debt shouldn't increase. At some point, the Debt should actually decrease. Never happened.
2. Every President on the above list inherited massive Debt from the previous administration. And you can go a lot further back in history and say the same about almost any President. At one point in time (1919) the Debt began to drop from $27,390,970,113.12 to $16,185,309,831.43 (1930). After the Great Depression the Debt rose 250% from 1931( 16,801,281,491) to 1940 ($42,967,531,037). Did we spend our way out of the Depression?
3. It's easy to distort the truth based on being selective. For instance, Ronald Reagan entered office with a Debt slightly under $1,000,000,000,000 and left office with the economy almost $3,000,000,000,000 in the red. After eight years in office the Reagan administration added twice as much money to the Debt as the country had run up to that point. Based on the numbers, that is absolute, 100% true and totally indisputable. What that means can be interrupted by any number of people in any number of ways. Currently the Obama administration has upped the ante by raising the Debt almost $3,600,000,000,000 in half the time. What's that say?

Two things are readily apparent to me and that's just one of the reasons I put this together. As I noted in #1, Bill Clinton never balanced the budget but he did manage the Debt to a degree. Under the current trend that is commendable. But why lie about?

But since the myth of Clinton's Balanced Budget exists why shouldn't the opposition grab it's coattails? Newt is claiming he was the driving force behind 10 balanced budgets. That may be true if he was a member of Congress over 40 years ago. He may look it, but I doubt Newt is over 100 years old.

Now, you see, if you didn't know the facts you may well be suckered in to buying in to one or both of the above lies. Now I know full well a lot of people will be quick to point out it depends on circumstances and definitions. Maybe so, but if you tell me you balanced the budget, the budget better well be balanced. And by that I mean you better not be spending more then you take in. If it has some other meaning then you better clearly define it so we actually know what you're doing.

Sorry folks, but facts are facts and over the years we've all been suckered in to believing garbage just because somebody makes a statement with authority. Personally I find them all to be liars. Factually, the above proves it beyond any doubt, reasonable or otherwise.