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How to lie with statistics.
Obama has increased spending less than other presidents, and way less than Republican presidents. True
Obama is spending more than any other president in history. True
These statements seem contrary, and a partisan will look only at the one that supports their team. But they are both true. If Bush spent x, and Obama increased spending even very slightly, then Obama is spending x + y, which is greater than x.
My way of thinking is to look at a household for an analogy. You are supposed to save money during the good times so you have a nest egg to get you through the bad times. We had good times under Clinton and were starting to save money, but Bush came in and stopped the saving of money and spent money like crazy instead. Then bad times came. And now Obama needs to spend money to get us through the bad times, but there is no money to spend because Bush already spent it during the good times. So Obama needs to spend money that doesn't exist. Not a very good situation to be in. But if you don't spend the money in bad times, the bad times will get even worse. And if you spend money that you don't have for too long, then the bad times will also get worse. Deficits do matter. I place the current problems directly at the feet of Bush. But so what? What do we do now? I'm not sure, but I am pretty sure that we need to get money into the hands of consumers. Consumers drive the economy. Rich people do NOT drive the economy. Consumer demand created jobs. Small business monetary holdings do not create jobs.
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