Debt percentages are fuzzy math

I am writing in regard to the letter by Raleigh Sutton in Fence Post Sept. 3, titled “Who has gotten us in deeper debt?”

Sutton lists the percent increase or decrease in the national debt for various presidents. I would like to set the record straight regarding the percentages listed by Sutton.

He shows that Obama, during his tenure as president, increased the national debt by 9 percent. On the day Obama took office the national debt was at $10.6 trillion. The national debt is now $14.6 trillion after only 2½ years in office. That is an increase of $4 trillion, which equals 38 percent, not 9 percent as Sutton states. This year’s deficit is at $1.3 trillion. By the time Obama finishes his term as president the national debt will be at $15.3 trillion plus next year’s deficit in only four years.

President George W. Bush, during his eight years as president, increased the national debt by $4.9 trillion. Maybe the conservatives are right in saying that Obama, during one term as president, will increase the national debt by more than any other president in the history of this great nation.

Dan Sokolowski

Elgin