This is not ‘Obama’s debt’

A political cartoon Jan. 23 depicted a Land of Oz in which President Obama, as Dorothy, stands next to a house labeled “debt,” which has crushed Uncle Sam, playing the role of the wicked witch. The president’s pet, a Democrat donkey, is at the president’s side.

The cartoon is cute, but 180 degrees off on the facts. On the last day of the following listed presidencies, the public debt as a percent of GDP was at the following levels: Carter, 32.5 percent; Reagan, 53.1 percent; Bush I, 66.1 percent; Clinton, 55.4 percent; Bush II, 83.4 percent.

In plain, unadjusted dollars, last day public debt figures for these presidents were: Carter, $994 billion; Reagan, $2,867 billion; Bush I, $4,351 billion; Clinton, $5,769 billion; and Bush II, $10,413 billion.

President Obama has not completed his first term. The latest figure for the national debt is $14 billion. But this figure reflects the fact that when President Obama was sworn in, the economy was a smoking wreckage, and the consensus of our nations’ business leaders, premier economists, members of Congress, and the Bush Administration was that without continued drastic infusion of capital (read: more debt) we were likely to slide into a depression.

The cartoon suggests the increase in debt in the past two years is Obama’s debt. It is not. It is a consequence of the consistent Republican strategy while in office, from Ronald Reagan to Bush II, of cutting taxes while increasing spending — but saying they’re not.

Al Kirkland Jr.

Elgin