Today, in one of his daily campaign speeches, President Obama declared he has only increased government spending 1% a year on average since he took office. Wow, it seemed like a lot more than that. He says thats the lowest spending rate for a president in almost 60 years.
Like most data, it all depends on the base line. His base line includes all the bailout money, TARP, and, of course, the much maligned stimulus money. He puts this all on Bush, then measures from there. The GM bailout goes into the Bush era.
This is data published today by an more objective third party.
Presidential Spending per day:
Reagan $2.5 billion, Clinton $4.1 billion, GW Bush $6.8 billion, Obama $9.7 billion
By every other measure, % of spending vs. GDP, growth in deficit, debt growth, etc. Obama has set new spending records.
Will the public let Obama support this claim, or will this backfire? It remains to be seen.
