EDITORIAL: Obama's big deficit lie - Washington Times

EDITORIAL: Obama's big deficit lie - Washington Times

President Obama claims federal budget deficits have not soared out of control during his administration. He has officially jumped the shark.

On Wednesday at a Denver fundraiser, Mr. Obama said he was “running to pay down our debt in a way that’s balanced and responsible.” He claimed that “after inheriting a $1 trillion deficit, I signed $2 trillion of spending cuts into law” and that since he has been president, “federal spending has risen at the lowest pace in nearly 60 years. Think about that.” It doesn’t take much thought to see that this is the most absurd claim in political memory.

Mr. Obama is basing his boast on an already discredited study by journalist Rex Nutting that purported to show that “Obama has been the most fiscally moderate president we’ve had in 60 years.” Among other fatal problems with the study is that it omits all spending that took place during the first nine months of the Obama administration, which were the last nine months of fiscal 2009. Thus, all of the initial spending programs to which the White House points with pride - particularly the failed nearly trillion-dollar economic stimulus program - are George W. Bush’s responsibility so far as Mr. Nutting is concerned.