Originally Posted by Guest

Odd that you say "everyone would rather have Bush in office than Obama". Do you need to be reminded of who was elected? Your figures on the National Debt are incorrect. From Politifact.com I copied this last paragraph:

"Our ruling

(Rand) Paul said, "Debt doubled" under Bush "and now it’s tripling under Barack Obama’s watch."

This statement is confusing. A person could easily interpret it to mean that debt has tripled since Obama took office -- which would be incorrect. Paul, on the other hand, said that it means debt today, under Obama, is triple what it was when Bush’s term started.

Indeed, today’s national debt is about triple what it was in January 2001, when Bush took office.

It's also worth noting that many factors other than a particular president's policies affect the national debt.

From one not-so-obvious angle, Paul's numbers are correct. But because the statement could so easily be interpreted in another, less accurate way, we rate it Half True."


About this statement:

Published: Thursday, April 9th, 2015 at 3:30 p.m.

Researched by: Lauren Carroll

Edited by: Angie Drobnic Holan

Subjects: Debt

Sources:

Rand Paul campaign launch transcript, April 7, 2015

U.S. Treasury, Debt to the Penny, accessed April 9, 2015

Tax Policy Center, Federal Debt 1940-2020, Feb. 2, 2015

PolitiFact, "RNC chair Reince Priebus says Barack Obama has 'the worst record of any president' on debt," Dec. 4, 2014

Email interview, Paul spokesman Sergio Gor, April 8, 2015

Email interview, George Washington Law professor Neil Buchanan, April 8, 2015

Email interview, Harvard professor Linda Bilmes, April 8, 2015

SOrry, I can't go back and copy the link without losing this post.