Obama reduced deficit spending

Dear editor,

On May 3, 2017, Steven King's "letter to the editor" talks about Obama adding $9.5 trillion to our national debt; however, Obama inherited some $1.4 trillion in annual deficit spending from Bush. Obama reduced this deficit spending each year and, when he left office, deficit spending was around $500 billion annually.

It’s no wonder the national debt almost doubled during his term! Over the last four to five decades, only two presidents have reduced annual deficit spending and those two were Clinton and Obama. 

Republicans have to take responsibility for setting the stage for ballooning our national debt: Bush's spending on the 2001-2003 tax cuts, two wars, Medicare part D drug plan, and corporate bailouts (banks, AGI insurance, autos, etc.).

For Obama, it was like trying to catch a falling knife, from a 10-story building. Despite all those bailouts and economic stimulus, having been pumped into our economy, unemployment here in Florida didn’t bottom out until two years later (2010), when it reached 12 percent. 

Keep in mind, Clinton left Bush with budget surpluses and a plan to pay down the national debt. Bush quickly erased these budget surpluses and left this nation on the precipices of total economic collapse. 

BILL CALFEE

Milton

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This article originally appeared on Santa Rosa Press Gazette: Obama reduced deficit spending