Obama did not reduce deficit spending

Editor’s Note: This is a response to “Obama reduced deficit spending,” a letter to the editor published in the May 17-19, 2017, Santa Rosa Press Gazette.

Dear editor,

Bill Calfee has a very selective memory of history, facts and math. As for Bill Clinton's spending, it was up in his first term under a Democrat Congress and down in the second term.

In Bill's second term, Congress went Republican with Newt Grinch as speaker. It was Newt who forced Bill, kicking and screaming, to sign that particular budget bill that left that budget surplus because of reduced spending.

Also, a budget surplus is money not spent by the end of the recorded term; a deficit is the money that was spent in that term. So, you can have a huge surplus and still have a huge deficit. Budget surplus minus deficit spending equals actual deficit.

History repeats itself with Obama and a Democrat Congress; in 2007, deficit spending, according to USGovernmentSpending.com, was $161 billion; 2008, $458 billion; 2009, $1.413 trillion; 2010 and 2011 were $1.294 / $1.295 trillion; 2012, $1.087 trillion; 2013, $679 billion; 2014, $485 billion; 2015, $438 billion; and 2016 was $587 billion.

Now, the house went Republican in 2010 and the shutdown of government happened over the budget and Obamacare's cost. The Senate also went Republican in 2012, which led up to the 2013 sequestered Budget Act caps.

Obama was actually quite surprised his sequester idea was enacted when he and the Republican Congress could not reach an agreement on the government budget. This act alone forced reduced budgets across all departments of government.

So, again, Bill Calfee, (seemingly) being a good liberal Democrat, tries to take credit for his political party the actions of the Republican party and the budget fights.

Really, Bill, every entitlement government program, including cell phones, has come from the Democrat side of the political aisle since the early 1900s.

History repeats itself again in this regard!

STEVEN KING

Milton

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This article originally appeared on Santa Rosa Press Gazette: Obama did not reduce deficit spending