Unemployment hit its highest national levels in the last 37 years that records have been kept in 82 or 83, over 2 years into President Reagan’s first term. 33 states also saw their highest levels of unemployment in those years.
When President Carter took office, unemployment was 7.1% and dropped to 5.8% in the middle of his term then rose back to 7.1% when he left office. President Reagan saw an increase in unemployment of over 3.5%.
Federal revenue under President Carter rose steadily and declined after the 1981 President Reagan tax cuts. Revenues dropped so fast after President Reagan’s tax cuts, he raised them in 84, rescinding 40% of his earlier cuts.
The debt tripled under President Reagan.
The debt doubled under President Bush from 2001 to 2007 WITH a republican Congress. President Bush never vetoed one spending bill in that time.
The deficits under President Bush hit all-time records only surpassed by his father. President Reagan comes in second for highest deficits.
On 1/9/09, two weeks before President Obama was inaugurated, the CBO estimated the deficits for 2009 to be $1.3 trillion. Their forecast called for trillion-plus deficits for years.
The deficit is 90% due to President Bush tax cuts and wars but more the tax cuts. Only 10% is due to the stimulus.
Nearly all economists agree that the economy would have cratered much more deeply and painfully without the stimulus.
The increase in the debt is entirely due to the President Bush policies, the recession’s effects on federal revenues and the cost of supporting the country in the recession.
Obama’s first budget did not increase spending over that of President Bush, adjusted for population and normal growth.
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