Modern Presidents and economic deficits...
PolitiFACT article that arose from this Tweet July 23, 2019:
Alex Cole @acnewsitics
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"Here's how the deficit performed
under Republican and Democratic presidents,
from Reagan to Trump"
"Now let’s take a closer look at each president’s impact
on the federal deficit.
To check the numbers in Cole’s tweet,
we went to the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis,
which has an interactive database for these kinds of figures.
Here’s what we found for each claim Cole made:
"Reagan took the deficit from 70 billion (up) to 175 billion."
This is more or less accurate.
The federal deficit went from about $78.9 billion at the beginning
of Reagan’s presidency to $152.6 billion at the end of it. At points
between 1983 and 1986, the deficit was actually more than $175 billion.
"George H.W. Bush took it (up) to 300 billion."
Close, but not exactly. The number was around $255 billion
at the end of Bush’s term. The deficit spiked at around
$290.3 billion the year before he left office.
"Clinton got it (down) to ZERO!"
This is true.
During his presidency, Clinton managed to zero out the deficit
and end his term with a $128.2 billion surplus!!
"G W. Bush took it from 0 (way up) to 1.2 trillion."
This is in the ballpark. Ignoring the fact that he actually started
his presidency with a $128.2 billion surplus, Bush left
office in 2009 with a federal deficit of roughly $1.41 trillion.
"Obama halved it (down) to 600 billion."
This is essentially accurate.
Obama left the presidency with a deficit of approximately
$584.6 billion, which is more than halving $1.41 trillion.
The deficit was even lower in 2015 at around $441.9 billion.
"Trump’s got it back (up) to a trillion... "
Source: https://tinyurl.com/trhtkaq
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Alex Cole @acnewsitics
- Reagan took the deficit from 70 billion (up) to 175 billion.
- Bush 41 took it (up) to 300 billion.
- Clinton got it (down) to ZERO.
- Bush 43 took it from zero (up) to 1.2 trillion.
- Obama halved it (down) to 600 billion.
- Trump’s got it back (up) to a trillion.
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"Here's how the deficit performed
under Republican and Democratic presidents,
from Reagan to Trump"
"Now let’s take a closer look at each president’s impact
on the federal deficit.
To check the numbers in Cole’s tweet,
we went to the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis,
which has an interactive database for these kinds of figures.
Here’s what we found for each claim Cole made:
"Reagan took the deficit from 70 billion (up) to 175 billion."
This is more or less accurate.
The federal deficit went from about $78.9 billion at the beginning
of Reagan’s presidency to $152.6 billion at the end of it. At points
between 1983 and 1986, the deficit was actually more than $175 billion.
"George H.W. Bush took it (up) to 300 billion."
Close, but not exactly. The number was around $255 billion
at the end of Bush’s term. The deficit spiked at around
$290.3 billion the year before he left office.
"Clinton got it (down) to ZERO!"
This is true.
During his presidency, Clinton managed to zero out the deficit
and end his term with a $128.2 billion surplus!!
"G W. Bush took it from 0 (way up) to 1.2 trillion."
This is in the ballpark. Ignoring the fact that he actually started
his presidency with a $128.2 billion surplus, Bush left
office in 2009 with a federal deficit of roughly $1.41 trillion.
"Obama halved it (down) to 600 billion."
This is essentially accurate.
Obama left the presidency with a deficit of approximately
$584.6 billion, which is more than halving $1.41 trillion.
The deficit was even lower in 2015 at around $441.9 billion.
"Trump’s got it back (up) to a trillion... "
Source: https://tinyurl.com/trhtkaq
.
.
.
