I recall that the Democrats doubled the national debt under the socialist Obama, is that what you are talking about? Fiscal conservatism deals with cutting spending not raising taxes. Since the Democrats are in control of the House at this time, what is Pelosi and that crowd doing to cut spending? And, no, no one wants to go back to FDR tax rates that even the unions denounced as unfair.
US Debt by President by Dollar and Percent
Which President Increased U.S. Debt the Most?
The Top Five Contributors by Percent
Franklin D. Roosevelt: Percentage-wise, President Roosevelt increased the debt by the largest amount. Although he only added $236 billion, this was a 1,048 percent increase from the $23 billion debt level left by
President Herbert Hoover.
Of course, the
Great Depression took an enormous bite out of revenues. The
New Deal cost billions. But FDR's major contribution to the debt was
World War II spending. He added $209 billion to the debt between 1942 and 1945.
Woodrow Wilson: President Wilson was the second-largest contributor to the debt, percentage-wise. He added $21 billion, which was a 727 percent increase over the $2.9 billion debt of his predecessor. Wilson had to pay for
World War I. During his presidency, the Second Liberty Bond Act gave
Congress the right to adopt the
national debt ceiling.
Ronald Reagan: President Reagan increased the debt by 186 percent. Reaganomics added $1.86 trillion. Reagan's brand of supply-side economics didn't grow the economy enough to offset the lost revenue from its tax cuts. That was partly because Reagan increased the defense budget by 35 percent.
George W. Bush: President Bush added $5.849 trillion, the second-greatest dollar amount. It was the fourth-largest percentage increase. Bush increased the debt by 101 percent from where it started at $5.8 trillion on September 30, 2001. That's the end of FY 2001, which was President Clinton's last budget.
Bush launched the
War on Terror in response to the
9/11 attacks. The War on Terror included two wars. The
War in Afghanistan cost $1.1 trillion and the
Iraq War cost $1 trillion. They increased
military spending to record levels of $600 billion to $800 billion a year.
President Bush also responded to the
2001 recession by passing the
Economic Growth and Tax Relief Reconciliation Act and the
Jobs and Growth Tax Relief Reconciliation Act. He approved a
$700 billion bailout package for banks to combat the
2008 global financial crisis. Both
Presidents Bush and Obama had to contend with higher
mandatory spending for
Social Security and Medicare.
Barack Obama: Under President Obama, the national debt grew the most dollar-wise. He added $8.588 trillion. This 74 percent increase was the fifth-largest. Obama's budgets included the economic stimulus package. It added $831 billion by cutting taxes, extending unemployment benefits, and funding public works projects.
The Obama tax cuts added $858 billion to the debt in two years. Obama's budget increased
defense spending to between $700 billion and $800 billion a year.
Federal income was down, thanks to lower tax receipts from the
2008 financial crisis. He also sponsored the
Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. It was designed to reduce the debt by $143 billion over 10 years. But these savings didn't show up until the later years.
