Deficit/Debt facts in US

@ElwoodBlues Obama doubled the national debt. When he came to office it was just under $9 trillion and when he left office it was $18 trillion. That's the source of the issues we have today.

@HoraceGreenley no it’s not. All contributed and trump added almost as much in half the years.

@Kypro You have to look at absolute dollars. I am right.

@HoraceGreenley nope

@Kypro

@HoraceGreenley Are you talking about [i]constant[/i] dollars?

like indexing inflationary changes of other years to one particular year??

When you claimed [quote]Obama doubled the national debt[/quote] is that claim in "absolute" dollars or [i]constant[/i] dollars or what??

@ElwoodBlues absolute dollars at the time

@HoraceGreenley what did Reagan do? Gw?

@HoraceGreenley [quote]absolute dollars at the time[/quote]
The OP presented dollar values at the time without any adjustment for inflation in his followup post.

Just out of curiosity, what is your objection to adjusting for inflation, and what is your objection to adjusting for GDP growth?

@ElwoodBlues I was merely stating that absolute dollars was more instructive.

@HoraceGreenley says [quote] I was merely stating that absolute dollars was more instructive.[/quote] More instructive than what? More instructive than compensating for GDP growth and inflation??

GDP grew 19% during Obama's two terms, and inflation was 2.5% per year, for a total of 22% growth. Using "absolute dollars" ignores the way those changes make federal debt easier to repay.

Let's count the ways you're being deceptive and misleading here.
(1) ignoring GDP growth;
(2) ignoring inflation;
(3) pretending that Obama was responsible for the TARP deficit spending passed at the end of the Bush admin.

The truth is that presidential [i]budgetary[/i] terms don't always line up with calendar terms in office. Every president begins with their predecessor's budget; they usually sign a new budget for the new fiscal year beginning Oct 1. I say "usually" because some presidents, like Trump, end up with "continuing resolutions" that continue their predecessor's budget for several more months. In Obama's case, expenditures for Bush's $700 billion TARP law continued in the first year of Obama's term, but they were never part of Obama's budget.

In short, @HoraceGreenley, you're doing your best to mislead about the Obama economy, and you're not succeeding!!

@ElwoodBlues your analysis is faulty. Really fsulty.

@HoraceGreenley good comeback!

@Kypro I haven't had the time to unravel this nonsense. I have a job.

@ElwoodBlues Since wha is "GDP grew 19% during Obama's two terms, and inflation was 2.5% per year, for a total of 22% growth." In anyway meaningful?

@HoraceGreenley same here

@HoraceGreenley Tough one for ya? Can't figure out what inflation & GDP growth might have to do with increases in the national debt??

Tell you what, I'm gonna let you struggle with it a bit. You'll be so proud of yourself when you work out the answer!!!

@ElwoodBlues Dude it's not a financial metric

@ElwoodBlues the chart tells the tale. I don't have to make anything up

@HoraceGreenley [quote]Dude it's not a financial metric[/quote] Debt as a percent of GDP is most definitely an economic metric. That's why people calculate it and compare it for different countries.

@ElwoodBlues I realized that. I asked about adding GDP growth and the rate of inflation.

GDP + Inflation is not a financial metric.

@HoraceGreenley I never said to add them; I said that ignoring them ignores the way those changes make federal debt easier to repay.

@ElwoodBlues I already made a comment where I copied your quote:

"GDP grew 19% during Obama's two terms, and inflation was 2.5% per year, for a total of 22% growth."

This is a quote.

@Kypro Unraveling his nonsense would require assistance
We'll need a whole team of psychiatrists.

@HoraceGreenley Thanks for the quote.
"GDP grew 19% during Obama's two terms, and inflation was 2.5% per year, for a total of 22% growth."

Do the math. 2.5% per year for eight years amounts to a scale factor of 1.2184; I rounded that to 22%. The 22% inflation is independent of the 19% GDP growth.