Consider the facts about 'Obama deficit'

Much has been made of the huge deficit run up by Barrack Obama during his presidency, with some conservatives claiming he added $10 trillion to the debt under his watch. The real figure is closer to six and one half billion. By the way, his predecessor, George W. Bush, added over $3.3 trillion due to the Bush tax cuts and two unfunded wars. This does not count the over $700 billion Bush borrowed from the Social Security Trust Fund.

Obama entered his presidency in January 2009 with the country on the brink of a depression. Many folks were out of a job, companies were suffering, and business bailouts were about to start.

The TARP program, a bank and auto industry bailout which was legislated in 2008 but began under Obama, added $700 billion to the deficit,

An immediate $787 billion economic stimulus was created for individuals who had fallen on hard times. An additional $534 billion in stimulus was added in later years. The stimuli covered such things as job creation, tax credits and extended unemployment benefits.

The Obama tax cut of 2010 added $858 billion. There was an $800 billion increase in defense spending. Remember the two unfunded wars? They are still going on and adding to the deficit.

It took a long while for high unemployment to go down, as the economy was shaken to its roots. So cut the guy some slack. It took drastic and expensive measures to get consumer and business confidence back to normal.

Dave Volkman

Naperville