Saturday, July 30, 2011

A little perspective

Ran across this today, and though it might put this ridiculous posturing about the debt ceiling in perspective:
Senator Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) displayed a chart on the Senate Floor that shows each president, starting with John F. Kenne­­dy, and their respective raises of the debt ceiling. The informatio­­n is quite telling.

Kennedy raised the debt ceiling 4 times
for a total increase of 5%.

Johnson raised the debt ceiling 7 times
for a total increase of 18%.

Nixon raised the debt ceiling 9 times
for a total increase of 36%.

Ford raised the debt ceiling 5 times
for a total increase of 41%.

Carter raised the debt ceiling 9 times
for total increase of 59%.

Reagan raised the debt ceiling 18 times
for a total increase of 199%.

George H. W.Bush raised the debt ceiling 9 times
for a total increase of 48%.

Clinton raised the debt ceiling 4 times
for a total increase of 44%.

Georg W. Bush raised the debt ceiling 7 times
for a total increase of 90%.

Obama has raised the debt ceiling 3 times
for a total increase of 26%.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Thanks, Robin.

The two parties have come to basic agreement on everything except the constitutional amendment, eliminating some tax breaks and raising some taxes on those who can afford it. The Republicans signed Grover Norquist's No New Taxes pledge. That is what got Pawlenty into trouble in MN. Why is no one talking about this?
MIL