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Republican Myth Busted: Reagan Raised the Debt Ceiling 3 Times More than Obama
President Reagan raised the debt ceiling the more times than any other President since 1960. He raised it 18 times, for a 67% increase.
Watch Bloomberg’s Hans Nichols breaks down the numbers that make up the debt ceiling and looks at how many times it has been raised through the years. He speaks on Bloomberg Television’s “Market Makers”:
President Obama “doesn’t even compare” to Reagan’s record, he has raised the debt ceiling 6 times, for a 31% increase.
According to Bloomberg’s numbers, Republicans have raised the debt ceiling 49 times since 1960, while Democrats have only raised it 30 times. The debt ceiling has been raised 79 times since 1960.
Ronald Reagan “proved deficits don’t matter”, according to former Republican V.P. Dick Cheney. How did he do that? By driving up the deficit. Under Reagan, the deficit skyrocketed. Reagan was in office from January 20, 1981 – January 20, 1989.
The following graph from Business Insider “shows the history of Federal Government Deficits. You can see that starting in in 1981, they really boomed like nothing comparable in history.”
Republicans like to blame Obama’s $787 billion stimulus for our debt (never mind that Bush also stimulated the economy), but we will have spent $3.7 trillion on Bush’s wars by the time they’re over, according to a recent report by Brown University. When Republicans done with the stimulus, they blame ObamaCare. But in reality, ObamaCare reduces the deficit according to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office.
When Bush took office, we had a surplus $86 billion. He left us with a $642 billion deficit. The Bush tax cuts have cost nearly $1.3 trillion over 10 years. If Republicans really cared about the deficit, wouldn’t they cut defense spending? Defense spending cost $718 billion last year, which is 20% percent of federal spending.
Republican Saint Ronald Reagan raised the debt ceiling the most times of any president since 1960. So, do Republicans think that Ronald Reagan left us the horrible burden of debt?
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35 Responses to Republican Myth Busted: Reagan Raised the Debt Ceiling 3 Times More than Obama
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djchefron
Jan. 17th, 2013 at 8:19 am
Darn,There you go again with those pesky facts.
Somerandomguy
Jan. 17th, 2013 at 10:33 pm
As much as I hope that is true, where are the sources? This might not be any more credible than the Fox News .
1voice1vote
Jan. 18th, 2013 at 1:20 pm
Sources for this article that are clearly stated IN the article: Bloomberg, Business Insider, Paul Krugman, The White House Office of Budget and Management, Wells Capital Management (from a link to a previous article)
buckeyewill
Jan. 17th, 2013 at 8:46 am
Deficits don’t matter….only when Democratic Presidents are in office.
Shiva (Moderator)
Jan. 17th, 2013 at 9:55 am
We are still paying for Gov. Reagan’s reign of terror. Gov. Reagan started the slide of the American government into poverty by trying to choke off its income. Reagan and Republican president since him wanted to have big militaries but they did not want to pay for those militaries.
We set smack dab in the bottom of the bucket from where Gov. Reagan started us. This man’s name should be wiped from every single history book we have. Just like the Egyptians used to chisel off pharaohs names after they died. Just like the people from the South are trying to wipe slavery out of their own history by removing it from the textbooks
David
Jan. 17th, 2013 at 12:07 pm
The fact is even though Reagan presumably raised it the most, ther was a surplus before Bush. We went into “War on Terror” & BUSH left us with 642 billion deficit. now how much is our deficit 17 TRILLION. COME ON REALLY? NOTHING MORE TO SAY ABOUT THIS!!!
Shiva (Moderator)
Jan. 17th, 2013 at 12:20 pm
Plenty more to say.
www.examiner.com/article/...
The unfunded Bush wars that Obama had to fund. Did you mention that? Thats a lot to say
www.skymachines.com/US-Na...
djchefron
Jan. 17th, 2013 at 12:36 pm
Let me see if I got this straight.Bush left us with 642 billion in debt?Lawd have mercy on my brain.Can you do simple math?If bush unfinded wars cost us a least 2 trillion and rising, an unfunded medicare mandate which was a givaway to drug companies at 600 billion how the hell does that add up to 642 billion? Please help me to understand.I BEG YOU PLEASE!!!!
Shiva (Moderator)
Jan. 17th, 2013 at 12:39 pm
Debt and deficit are not the same
Kadidle
Jan. 17th, 2013 at 12:47 pm
You need to learn what a deficit is.
Olden
Jan. 17th, 2013 at 2:08 pm
When they say Reagan raised the debt limit three times more than Obama, does that mean if Obama raised it 5 times, then Reagan raised it 8 times (five times plus three more times) or 15 times (three times more than five times)?
djchefron
Jan. 17th, 2013 at 3:53 pm
The question not who raised what by how much etc.It is in the Constitution that congress must pay all public debt.No ifs ands or buts.
inez
Jan. 17th, 2013 at 8:09 pm
When I opened the first made available IRAa, uner RR, the interest rate at my local bank was TEN PERCENT@!!!!!!!!Was that considered inflation?? The Repuslhricans spends money without caring about paying for their support of corporate welfare, business who shift jobs all over the world and claim little if any US taxes. Mitt the quit has off shore accounts ,,, tax free, while JOHN Q public has to cough up taxes out of every paycheck.Slippery slopes are evident and condoned by the GOP!
Dove
Jan. 17th, 2013 at 3:36 pm
It doesn’t matter who outdid who in raising the debt ceiling, it isn’t a race, the fact they did it at all should be a mark of shame. Our government has zero sense of fiscal responsibility and they should forfeit their accumulated wealth for the financial disaster they’ve forced upon all of us. Don’t use that, we’ll you voted for them, it doesn’t count when the game is rigged and you only have two parties that stand any real chance of winning.
djchefron
Jan. 17th, 2013 at 3:51 pm
Do you people read the Constitution?Here is a refreasher if you dont know
Fourteenth Amendmnet Section 4. The validity of the public debt of the United States, authorized by law, including debts incurred for payment of pensions and bounties for services in suppressing insurrection or rebellion, shall not be questioned. But neither the United States nor any State shall assume or pay any debt or obligation incurred in aid of insurrection or rebellion against the United States, or any claim for the loss or emancipation of any slave; but all such debts, obligations and claims shall be held illegal and void.
charlie
Jan. 17th, 2013 at 4:13 pm
DoveReply
Jan. 17th, 2013 at 3:36 pm
Nice Math
Jan. 17th, 2013 at 4:04 pm
Really? This article is so misleading… It doesn’t matter HOW many times you raised it. Reagan increased the debt ceiling by 1.7 Trillion VS Obama raising it by about 15.5 Trillion. Using percentages in this case is INCREDIBLY misleading. Obama has raised the debt ceiling by over 7 times as much as Reagan did.
This article is the equivalent of a guy buying a pack of smokes a day for a week, or a guy buying a carton of smokes per week. They both smoke all of them. Still, who smoked more cigarettes? The guy who went to the store more, or the guy that bought 10 packs at a time? I’ll give you a hint since math is tough for you, it’s the guy that only went once.
Shiva (Moderator)
Jan. 17th, 2013 at 4:06 pm
Obama has not raised the debt ceiling 15 trillion
Good grief.
Nice Math
Jan. 17th, 2013 at 4:09 pm
An extra one got in there by accident, 5.5 Trillion. 3.2 Times as much as Obama.
Nice Math
Jan. 17th, 2013 at 4:09 pm
Reagan
Terri
Jan. 18th, 2013 at 12:12 am
You better tell that to the Republicans because in 2011 they were screaming about how many times Obama raised the debt ceiling.
But if you want to convert Reagan’s dollars into today’s dollars, be our guest:-)
Shiva (Moderator)
Jan. 17th, 2013 at 4:11 pm
Thats a little closer lol
www.skymachines.com/US-Na...
Obama isnt even close to raising it as much as Bush as a percent. Look at the percents by each year and look how the spending started.
Nice Math
Jan. 17th, 2013 at 4:15 pm
My point is that using percentages is not a good way to look at this unless you base all the percentages from the same number.
10% more than 100 = 110 (Increase by 10)
5% more than 1000 = 1050 (Increase by 50)
You can have a lower percentage increase but still a higher net increase. It’s misleading and doesn’t give you any real insight into the data.
Terri
Jan. 18th, 2013 at 12:10 am
Listening to conservatives twist themselves into pretzels to DENY the reality that Reagan made a huge deficit and raised the debt ceiling way more than Obama is hilarious. Can you give us a time when the Republican Party cared about deficits when they were in power?
Didn’t think so.
Carol
Jan. 17th, 2013 at 4:45 pm
so what dollar amount? to compare Reagan with Obama you would have to increase Reagan’s dollar amount to the equivalent of today’s dollar amount. A billion dollars 30 years ago was worth a LOT more than a billion dollars today.
Shiva (Moderator)
Jan. 17th, 2013 at 5:06 pm
Debt ceiling.
John
Jan. 18th, 2013 at 12:04 am
Hey, I know! Let’s ignore the fact that Obama said in 2006 that raising the debt ceiling was a failure in leadership.
Shiva (Moderator)
Jan. 18th, 2013 at 12:23 am
Ok
Clif
Jan. 18th, 2013 at 12:45 am
Reagan was 30 years ago. Today Moody’s is threatening a downgrade and the world is beginning to shun Treasuries because we cannot get our debt under control. This is not a partisan issue… it is a “future of America” issue.
djchefron
Jan. 18th, 2013 at 12:55 pm
Was your hair on fire when bush started the Iraq war without paying for it?Was it when we went into Afghanistan without paying for it?I just know you were pissed when Tom Delay broke the house rules by keeping the vote open past its time limit to give the drug companies a big fat welfare check for over 600 billion dollars.Did you go on the intertubes and denounced dick cheney’s statement deficits don’t matter?Did you start a petition to protest when they fired Paul O’neill when he warned them that bush policies would explode into deficits?
I await your answer
QQ
Jan. 18th, 2013 at 1:53 am
They failed to mention regan raised the debt ceiling for military spending to win the cold war with Russia. His tax plan also brought in tons of money and made the economy flourish, then Russia fell because they couldn’t keep up with our spending. Now The country is in debt and no flourishing, so debt and no jobs .
djchefron
Jan. 18th, 2013 at 6:11 pm
Sometimes I dont know why I bother but a mind is a terrible thing to waste.So I’m here to try to help you get over this myth of super raygun defeating the russian horde by his lonesome
Losing the Cold War – The true story of why the USSR fell
open.salon.com/blog/paul_...
Austin
Jan. 18th, 2013 at 2:55 am
You can’t really compare an $848 billion to $2,698 billion increase from Reagan’s office to the $10,627 billion to $14,288 billion from Obama in office. The % increase is an invalid analysis of the circumstance at hand. Reagan’s deficit increase proves to be valid considering the deficit was not as dramatic of a change when compared to the already rather large national debt we are facing today.
djchefron
Jan. 18th, 2013 at 1:03 pm
In other words “Deficits dont matter as long as its a republican in charge”See straight to the point.
Diggs
Jan. 20th, 2013 at 11:21 am
You are comparing eight Reagan years with four Obama years, and yet, even with YOUR charts, Reagan raised the debt limit $2 trillion in eight years, Obama has raised it $6 trillion in four, with an expected additional $11 trillion by the time he leaves office. So by the actual number that counts, the dollar amount, Obama will have raised the debt almost 900% more than Reagan did. Anyone who believes that Obama will have created less debt at the end of his eight years than Reagan did at the end of his, is simply not looking at the correct numbers, and is looking at the numbers you posted, which have nothing at all to do with the amount of debt.