Doing the math on Obama's deficits
By Ezra Klein,
WashPost
Tuesday, January 31, 6:09 PM
The campaign trail can be a lonely place, so Mitt Romney frequently invites friends to accompany him. New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie is an occasional companion. So is Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell. But more often, Romney brings a large clock.
The Romney campaign made it themselves. It has two giant, flat-screen televisions pushed side by side. It’s surrounded by a green, styrofoam sign. And it’s hooked to two computers feeding it a live count of America’s rising debt burden, which stands well above $15 trillion. The clock represents President Obama’s economic failures. It’s there so Romney can point to it and tell the crowd that if he’s elected, he’ll “do a better job slowing down that clock.” But if you’re a deficit-obsessed voter, the clock doesn’t answer the key question: How much has Obama added to the debt, anyway?
There are two answers: More than $4 trillion, or about $983 billion. The first answer is simple and wrong. The second answer is more complicated, but a lot closer to being right.
When Obama took office, the national debt was about $10.5 trillion. Today, it’s about $15.2 trillion. Simple subtraction gets you the answer preferred by most of Obama’s opponents: $4.7 trillion.
(More here.)
WashPost
Tuesday, January 31, 6:09 PM
The campaign trail can be a lonely place, so Mitt Romney frequently invites friends to accompany him. New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie is an occasional companion. So is Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell. But more often, Romney brings a large clock.
The Romney campaign made it themselves. It has two giant, flat-screen televisions pushed side by side. It’s surrounded by a green, styrofoam sign. And it’s hooked to two computers feeding it a live count of America’s rising debt burden, which stands well above $15 trillion. The clock represents President Obama’s economic failures. It’s there so Romney can point to it and tell the crowd that if he’s elected, he’ll “do a better job slowing down that clock.” But if you’re a deficit-obsessed voter, the clock doesn’t answer the key question: How much has Obama added to the debt, anyway?
There are two answers: More than $4 trillion, or about $983 billion. The first answer is simple and wrong. The second answer is more complicated, but a lot closer to being right.
When Obama took office, the national debt was about $10.5 trillion. Today, it’s about $15.2 trillion. Simple subtraction gets you the answer preferred by most of Obama’s opponents: $4.7 trillion.
(More here.)
Powered by Blogger
1 Comments:
We know the math, what we do not know is how "The One" will spin it... from Guy Benson: The Congressional Budget Office (keep in mind that the agency is required to use unrealistic assumptions regarding current law) on Tuesday predicted the budget deficit will rise to $1.08 trillion in 2012. CBO also projected the jobless rate would rise to 8.9 percent by the end of 2012, and to 9.2 percent in 2013. These are much dimmer forecasts than in CBO’s last report in August, when the office projected a $973 billion deficit. The report reflects weaker corporate tax revenue and the extension for two months of the payroll tax holiday. From Tom Koch: How much longer can liberals blame George Bush?
Post a Comment
<< Home