Who Increased the Debt? Indeed

There's a graph making its way through social media purporting to show the "real" speeding by Presidents over the past three decades:

Not that I don't agree with the graph, but let's recognize where and how it is misleading, and how others might draw other conclusions.

First


Most of the Conservative argument against running deficits is based on analogies to households that cannot run a deficit, and cannot raise money in the equities and debt market. 

I would propose that the US government is closer to a corporation, and we all know that corporations make a business of "leveraging" other peoples money to earn a return for their shareholders. 

In here, the leverage is public debt, and the return is presumably greater security and higher standards of living for the US Citizens who are the "shareholders". So with a low debt to equity ratio we are not being an efficient corporation turning equity into profit - Reagan simply adjusted that ratio to a better return ratio for all Americans. 

He was a fiscal genius and a Saint.

To question that is an act of heresy.

Second


Somehow (don't ask how because it makes Conservatives uncomfortable, but rest assured it is because of those demon-Democrats and their Socialist-Communist economic policies that reward lazy good for nothings with fancy lifestyles and goods above their pathetic means, all on the backs of us hard working trust-fund babies), by the time Obama got to office we were just at the PERFECT debt ratio. 

Under the keen stewardship of George the Younger we adjusted our tax rates to the optimal economic engine driving levels, and made investments in Military Interventions to keep us all safe from godless or at least Islamic terrorists. 

All was good. 

Then for no reason (please forget the Market crash brought on by conservative de-regulation and lack of oversight of our financial sectors because we all KNOW that laissez-faire economics is what that genius economist of the agrarian era Adam Smith would have called for) Obama has pushed the debt to unfathomable levels through his rash and extremely Socialist-Communist spending on crazy things like economic stabilization and jobs creations. 

What the graph doesn't show is that his 16% is on a high base that really means that he has spent more on these misguided strategies than the previous 4 presidents. No, actually more than the rest of the Presidents combined. No wait! More than everyone who ever lived before us for all history. He just spends and spends and spends. 

Since we know this to be truth, the graph must be flawed, or worse, slanted by the evil liberal media that is taking over our society.  


Did I point out the liberal media?  


Good.

Lastly


Conservatives understand that we're in an economic transition period that will have some transition costs for some socio-economic sectors (just not the leadership of our efforts, but fortunately our base supporters are either too dense or to indoctrinated to understand this). For Obama to make is Socialist-Communist spending so high to avoid or soften the inevitable downturn is misguided and Socialist-Communist. Did I say Socialist Communist? Just making sure you heard me.

No, we Conservatives believe in Mitt Romney's Laissez-faire (note the nod to Adam Smith to ensure we're on message) destructive-constructive capitalism where it is often more efficient, economically speaking, to tear something down and feed its rotting remains to the vultures, than to try and nurture it back to health.

Thank you for listening to why this graph makes absolutely NO SENSE.