Judging Obama's Handling of the Budget and the Economy Fairly

[deanrd]

Obama did the best he could for as long as he could. Then Republicans worked hard to fuk everything up they could. They even bragged about it.

 

[mikegriffith1]

Another article on the fact that Obama signed most of the FY 2009 spending:

Plenty of Nutting

 

[Remodeling Maidiac]

Things always can be made to look good on paper but often fall flat when applied in real world situations.

 

[kaz]

Psst do you know what debt is? The sum of annual deficits.

2009 budget submitted by Bush in 2008 had 1.3 Trillion dollar deficit...how exactly did Obama cause that???

He didn't. But you idiots keep saying W was responsible for 2001 which was Clinton's budget, W was responsible for the entire eight year Obama term and then Trump became responsible the day he took office so Obama wasn't ever responsible for anything

Bullshit.

Bush blew up the budget with tax-cuts, unpaid-for wars and Medicaid part B.

That’s without blaming him for Great Recession.

So medicare part D that was signed in 2003 and tax cuts in June, 2001 caused a recession that started in March, 2001. Got it.

Well, you're clear what you are

The recession started in 2001?
So we had 8 years of recession?
Really?

Wow you're stupid. There were two recessions.

Early 2000s recession - Wikipedia

Great Recession - Wikipedia

You didn't know that? Seriously? How old are you, 12? That would explain a lot, actually

 

[edthecynic]

The bottom line is that Obama did a pretty decent job on the economy and a poor job on the budget. That said, Obama did a better job on the economy and on the budget than Bush did. Obama increased the national debt by 68%, way too much, but Bush jacked up the debt by 101%.

Unfortunately, Obama's recovery included historically long stretches of high U-6 unemployment and weak or tepid GDP growth. Why? Because he over-regulated, because he imposed Obamacare, and because he did virtually nothing to help big business. Helping small businesses is all fine and dandy, and increasing the Earned Income Tax Credit is also a smart move, but big businesses employ tens of millions of Americans and have the capacity to do a great deal of good for the economy when their tax and regulatory burdens are lightened, a fact that Obama did not grasp. But, again, overall, Obama did a pretty decent job on the economy, and he did a better job on the budget than Bush did.

Obama increased the national debt by 68%, way too much, but Bush jacked up the debt by 101%.

You're mistaken.

No, those numbers are accurate.

Which President Increased U.S. Debt the Most?

You can't use just gross dollar amounts, because they are misleading. The key measurement is the percentage by which the debt increased.

No, those numbers are accurate.

Debt to the penny shows Bush and Obama added almost identical percentages.
I could go even deeper and show you how Obama actually added a lot more, but why bother?

I'll be doggoned. I checked The Balance's math, and they are wrong, and you are right. When Bush took office, the debt was $5.7 trillion. When he left office, the debt was $10.6 trillion. Amount of increase: 86%. When Obama took office, the debt was $10.6 trillion. When he left office, the debt was $19.9 trillion. Amount of increase: 87%.

Before I posted the OP, I checked The Balance's math on the jobs numbers but not on the debt percentage numbers. If I use their stuff again, I'll need to check all of their numbers! Thank you for the correction.

Same lie different liar. Debt and deficit are FISCAL years not CALENDAR years. At the end of Clinton's last FISCAL YEAR the National Debt stood at $5,807,463,412,200.06, and at the end of Bush's last FISCAL YEAR it was $11,909,829,003,511.75 and at the end of Obama's last FISCAL YEAR it was $20,244,900,016,053.51
Today Donnie Dirt Bag has the debt up to $21,196,623,000,000 and climbing in just 3 quarters of his first FISCAL YEAR and at this pace he will truly be "The King Of Debt."

Government - Historical Debt Outstanding - Annual 2000 - 2017

 

[rightwinger]

It could be said that the economy had nowhere to go but up after the debacle of 2008 when democrat Barney Frank who had oversight responsibility for Fannie Mae let it collapse on his watch. Obama's micro managing of the economy and silly programs like "cash for clunkers" elicited little confidence from the public sector and when Obama came out and claimed that "corporations were the enemy" it was met with stagnation. The GDP never even came close to 3% during Hussein's 8 years while the administration bragged about how many people applied for food stamps and Black employment sank to dismal levels. Meanwhile the administration seemed to encourage Black violence against the government and the Police as a relief for unemployment. If you wanted to play poker with a high roller, Obama would be the perfect patsy. So many foreign governments conned him out of resources that the Iran deal has become the symbol of corruption.

Barney Frank?

How can a single Congressman from the minority party have that much power?

Must be because he is gay

 

[edthecynic]

This myth has been debunked hundreds of times on this board. The Dem-controlled Congress jacked up spending for Bush's final fiscal year. Bush threatened to veto it, so the Dems held most off on most of it until Obama could sign it, which he did almost as soon as he took office. Go look at whose signature is on most of that spending.

If by being debunked hundreds of times you mean NEVER you would be correct. Bush signed $1.2 trillion of the $1.4 trillion debt increase in his final fiscal year.

Interesting that you knew to use FISCAL year here for Bush but you used CALENDAR years earlier to jack up Obama's debt. Very revealing!!!!

 

[jillian]

Obama's handling of the budget and the economy was not as bad as most conservatives believe it was, and it is not as good as most liberals claim it was. Some points:

* True, Obama jacked up spending in his first year, but he actually imposed a net cut on spending the following year (2010), before sequestration was even debated, and he held spending to virtually flat-lined levels through 2015 (US Federal Spending Analysis - Charts Tables History). Yes, the spending restraint from 2012 through 2015 was because of the sequester, but Obama agreed to the sequester--he could have vetoed it, but he did not.

* In connection with the above, Obama increased the national debt by a much smaller percentage than Bush did. Bush increased the debt by 101%. Obama increased it by 68%, one-third less than Bush.

* During Obama's 8 years, 17 million new jobs were created, a 12.8% increase, which far surpasses Bush's record on job creation (Which President Created the Most Jobs?).

* Under Obama, we had 74 consecutive months of job growth, from October 2010 to December 2016 (Bureau of Labor Statistics Data).

* The biggest chunk of Obama's much-maligned stimulus packet was devoted to tax cuts. Of the $787 billion, $288 billion was for tax cuts. Another $275 billion was for job creation via federal contracts, grants, and loans.

* Obama signed numerous tax-cut measures, both for individuals and for small businesses. He also made most of the Bush tax cuts permanent, against the advice of many liberal economists. Some of his other tax cuts included the following:

In 2010, President Obama signed an $858 billion tax cut deal. It extended the Bush tax cuts through 2012 and unemployment benefits through 2011. It cut payroll taxes by 2 percent, adding $120 million to workers' spendable income. It extended a college tuition tax credit. It also included $55 billion in industry-specific tax cuts. (https://www.thebalance.com/obama-tax-cuts-3306330; see also https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/issues/taxes;
(https://www.cnbc.com/id/49261153; Obama Proposes Extending Small Business Tax Cuts Permanently | Andersen CPA Firm)​

* A typical family making $50,000 a year received tax cuts totaling $3,600 in President Obama’s first term, more if they were putting a child through college.

* Improvements to the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) and Child Tax Credit (CTC), enacted in 2009 under Obama and later made permanent provided roughly 16 million working families a year with a tax cut of about $900 on average.

* The 2015 budget deal lifted the sequester's caps but it also contained well over $600 billion in tax cuts/tax breaks and lifted the ban on oil exports.

Of course, there were some black marks. We actually lost manufacturing jobs under Obama, although the loss was relatively small--we went from 12,561,000 manufacturing jobs in January 2009 to 12,369,000 in January 2017. Another problem was that the stock market's growth was somewhat weak. Over-regulation was a drag on many business sectors. A sizable number of the new jobs that were created were modest-income jobs and part-time jobs, but the majority were good jobs. The U-6 rate, aka the "real unemployment rate," stayed unusually high for most of Obama's presidency. Obamacare caused many companies to change full-time positions to part-time positions to avoid having to offer health insurance.

On balance, Obama did a better of dealing with the budget and the economy than most conservatives give him credit for.

1. Any “judgment” has to include a discussion about GOP obstruction.
2. Perhaps you should focus on Dinald’s Imbecilic trade war and blowing up of the deficit.

You’re welcome

 

[edthecynic]

Another article on the fact that Obama signed most of the FY 2009 spending:

Plenty of Nutting

Yet more FAKE NEWS.
CBO attributes $1.2 trillion of the fiscal 2009 $1.4 trillion deficit to BUSH!

 

[Toddsterpatriot]

Psst do you know what debt is? The sum of annual deficits.

2009 budget submitted by Bush in 2008 had 1.3 Trillion dollar deficit...how exactly did Obama cause that???

Obama spend 870 Billion on Stimulus and he made permanent almost all bush tax cuts. Everything else is right about wash with sequestrations.

“Debt increased under” is a fool’s metric of fiscal performance. You have to look at the policy.

2009 budget submitted by Bush in 2008 had 1.3 Trillion dollar deficit...how exactly did Obama cause that???

How much of the 2009 budget did Obama sign?
I'll give you a hint, it was a percentage larger than zero.
Also, how much of FY2009 spending was Obama's "stimulus"?
How much of FY2009 spending was TARP loans approved by Bush
and then repaid from 2009-2012?

 

[Remodeling Maidiac]

Obama's handling of the budget and the economy was not as bad as most conservatives believe it was, and it is not as good as most liberals claim it was. Some points:

* True, Obama jacked up spending in his first year, but he actually imposed a net cut on spending the following year (2010), before sequestration was even debated, and he held spending to virtually flat-lined levels through 2015 (US Federal Spending Analysis - Charts Tables History). Yes, the spending restraint from 2012 through 2015 was because of the sequester, but Obama agreed to the sequester--he could have vetoed it, but he did not.

* In connection with the above, Obama increased the national debt by a much smaller percentage than Bush did. Bush increased the debt by 101%. Obama increased it by 68%, one-third less than Bush.

* During Obama's 8 years, 17 million new jobs were created, a 12.8% increase, which far surpasses Bush's record on job creation (Which President Created the Most Jobs?).

* Under Obama, we had 74 consecutive months of job growth, from October 2010 to December 2016 (Bureau of Labor Statistics Data).

* The biggest chunk of Obama's much-maligned stimulus packet was devoted to tax cuts. Of the $787 billion, $288 billion was for tax cuts. Another $275 billion was for job creation via federal contracts, grants, and loans.

* Obama signed numerous tax-cut measures, both for individuals and for small businesses. He also made most of the Bush tax cuts permanent, against the advice of many liberal economists. Some of his other tax cuts included the following:

In 2010, President Obama signed an $858 billion tax cut deal. It extended the Bush tax cuts through 2012 and unemployment benefits through 2011. It cut payroll taxes by 2 percent, adding $120 million to workers' spendable income. It extended a college tuition tax credit. It also included $55 billion in industry-specific tax cuts. (https://www.thebalance.com/obama-tax-cuts-3306330; see also https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/issues/taxes;
(https://www.cnbc.com/id/49261153; Obama Proposes Extending Small Business Tax Cuts Permanently | Andersen CPA Firm)​

* A typical family making $50,000 a year received tax cuts totaling $3,600 in President Obama’s first term, more if they were putting a child through college.

* Improvements to the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) and Child Tax Credit (CTC), enacted in 2009 under Obama and later made permanent provided roughly 16 million working families a year with a tax cut of about $900 on average.

* The 2015 budget deal lifted the sequester's caps but it also contained well over $600 billion in tax cuts/tax breaks and lifted the ban on oil exports.

Of course, there were some black marks. We actually lost manufacturing jobs under Obama, although the loss was relatively small--we went from 12,561,000 manufacturing jobs in January 2009 to 12,369,000 in January 2017. Another problem was that the stock market's growth was somewhat weak. Over-regulation was a drag on many business sectors. A sizable number of the new jobs that were created were modest-income jobs and part-time jobs, but the majority were good jobs. The U-6 rate, aka the "real unemployment rate," stayed unusually high for most of Obama's presidency. Obamacare caused many companies to change full-time positions to part-time positions to avoid having to offer health insurance.

On balance, Obama did a better of dealing with the budget and the economy than most conservatives give him credit for.

1. Any “judgment” has to include a discussion about GOP obstruction.
2. Perhaps you should focus on Dinald’s Imbecilic trade war and blowing up of the deficit.

You’re welcome

Even when presented with near capitulation you still bark like a wounded dog.

Astonishing how far gone some of you nuts are.

 

[Toddsterpatriot]

Obama's handling of the budget and the economy was not as bad as most conservatives believe it was, and it is not as good as most liberals claim it was. Some points:

* True, Obama jacked up spending in his first year, but he actually imposed a net cut on spending the following year (2010), before sequestration was even debated, and he held spending to virtually flat-lined levels through 2015 (US Federal Spending Analysis - Charts Tables History). Yes, the spending restraint from 2012 through 2015 was because of the sequester, but Obama agreed to the sequester--he could have vetoed it, but he did not.

* In connection with the above, Obama increased the national debt by a much smaller percentage than Bush did. Bush increased the debt by 101%. Obama increased it by 68%, one-third less than Bush.

* During Obama's 8 years, 17 million new jobs were created, a 12.8% increase, which far surpasses Bush's record on job creation (Which President Created the Most Jobs?).

* Under Obama, we had 74 consecutive months of job growth, from October 2010 to December 2016 (Bureau of Labor Statistics Data).

* The biggest chunk of Obama's much-maligned stimulus packet was devoted to tax cuts. Of the $787 billion, $288 billion was for tax cuts. Another $275 billion was for job creation via federal contracts, grants, and loans.

* Obama signed numerous tax-cut measures, both for individuals and for small businesses. He also made most of the Bush tax cuts permanent, against the advice of many liberal economists. Some of his other tax cuts included the following:

In 2010, President Obama signed an $858 billion tax cut deal. It extended the Bush tax cuts through 2012 and unemployment benefits through 2011. It cut payroll taxes by 2 percent, adding $120 million to workers' spendable income. It extended a college tuition tax credit. It also included $55 billion in industry-specific tax cuts. (https://www.thebalance.com/obama-tax-cuts-3306330; see also https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/issues/taxes;
(https://www.cnbc.com/id/49261153; Obama Proposes Extending Small Business Tax Cuts Permanently | Andersen CPA Firm)​

* A typical family making $50,000 a year received tax cuts totaling $3,600 in President Obama’s first term, more if they were putting a child through college.

* Improvements to the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) and Child Tax Credit (CTC), enacted in 2009 under Obama and later made permanent provided roughly 16 million working families a year with a tax cut of about $900 on average.

* The 2015 budget deal lifted the sequester's caps but it also contained well over $600 billion in tax cuts/tax breaks and lifted the ban on oil exports.

Of course, there were some black marks. We actually lost manufacturing jobs under Obama, although the loss was relatively small--we went from 12,561,000 manufacturing jobs in January 2009 to 12,369,000 in January 2017. Another problem was that the stock market's growth was somewhat weak. Over-regulation was a drag on many business sectors. A sizable number of the new jobs that were created were modest-income jobs and part-time jobs, but the majority were good jobs. The U-6 rate, aka the "real unemployment rate," stayed unusually high for most of Obama's presidency. Obamacare caused many companies to change full-time positions to part-time positions to avoid having to offer health insurance.

On balance, Obama did a better of dealing with the budget and the economy than most conservatives give him credit for.

1. Any “judgment” has to include a discussion about GOP obstruction.
2. Perhaps you should focus on Dinald’s Imbecilic trade war and blowing up of the deficit.

You’re welcome

Any “judgment” has to include a discussion about GOP obstruction.

I agree. Without that obstruction, Obama would have added a couple of trillion more to the debt, easily.

 

[Ray From Cleveland]

Obama's handling of the budget and the economy was not as bad as most conservatives believe it was, and it is not as good as most liberals claim it was. Some points:

* True, Obama jacked up spending in his first year, but he actually imposed a net cut on spending the following year (2010), before sequestration was even debated, and he held spending to virtually flat-lined levels through 2015 (US Federal Spending Analysis - Charts Tables History). Yes, the spending restraint from 2012 through 2015 was because of the sequester, but Obama agreed to the sequester--he could have vetoed it, but he did not.

* In connection with the above, Obama increased the national debt by a much smaller percentage than Bush did. Bush increased the debt by 101%. Obama increased it by 68%, one-third less than Bush.

* During Obama's 8 years, 17 million new jobs were created, a 12.8% increase, which far surpasses Bush's record on job creation (Which President Created the Most Jobs?).

* Under Obama, we had 74 consecutive months of job growth, from October 2010 to December 2016 (Bureau of Labor Statistics Data).

* The biggest chunk of Obama's much-maligned stimulus packet was devoted to tax cuts. Of the $787 billion, $288 billion was for tax cuts. Another $275 billion was for job creation via federal contracts, grants, and loans.

* Obama signed numerous tax-cut measures, both for individuals and for small businesses. He also made most of the Bush tax cuts permanent, against the advice of many liberal economists. Some of his other tax cuts included the following:

In 2010, President Obama signed an $858 billion tax cut deal. It extended the Bush tax cuts through 2012 and unemployment benefits through 2011. It cut payroll taxes by 2 percent, adding $120 million to workers' spendable income. It extended a college tuition tax credit. It also included $55 billion in industry-specific tax cuts. (https://www.thebalance.com/obama-tax-cuts-3306330; see also https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/issues/taxes;
(https://www.cnbc.com/id/49261153; Obama Proposes Extending Small Business Tax Cuts Permanently | Andersen CPA Firm)​

* A typical family making $50,000 a year received tax cuts totaling $3,600 in President Obama’s first term, more if they were putting a child through college.

* Improvements to the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) and Child Tax Credit (CTC), enacted in 2009 under Obama and later made permanent provided roughly 16 million working families a year with a tax cut of about $900 on average.

* The 2015 budget deal lifted the sequester's caps but it also contained well over $600 billion in tax cuts/tax breaks and lifted the ban on oil exports.

Of course, there were some black marks. We actually lost manufacturing jobs under Obama, although the loss was relatively small--we went from 12,561,000 manufacturing jobs in January 2009 to 12,369,000 in January 2017. Another problem was that the stock market's growth was somewhat weak. Over-regulation was a drag on many business sectors. A sizable number of the new jobs that were created were modest-income jobs and part-time jobs, but the majority were good jobs. The U-6 rate, aka the "real unemployment rate," stayed unusually high for most of Obama's presidency. Obamacare caused many companies to change full-time positions to part-time positions to avoid having to offer health insurance.

On balance, Obama did a better of dealing with the budget and the economy than most conservatives give him credit for.

1. Any “judgment” has to include a discussion about GOP obstruction.
2. Perhaps you should focus on Dinald’s Imbecilic trade war and blowing up of the deficit.

You’re welcome

Germany willing to cut tariffs on US cars, lifting automakers’ shares

 

[AntonToo]

Psst do you know what debt is? The sum of annual deficits.

2009 budget submitted by Bush in 2008 had 1.3 Trillion dollar deficit...how exactly did Obama cause that???

He didn't. But you idiots keep saying W was responsible for 2001 which was Clinton's budget, W was responsible for the entire eight year Obama term and then Trump became responsible the day he took office so Obama wasn't ever responsible for anything

Bullshit.

Bush blew up the budget with tax-cuts, unpaid-for wars and Medicaid part B.

That’s without blaming him for Great Recession.

So medicare part D that was signed in 2003 and tax cuts in June, 2001 caused a recession that started in March, 2001. Got it.

Well, you're clear what you are

wtf are you smoking? Where did I blame Bush for 2001 recession?

Niether Bush nor Clinton caused Corporate scandals and .COM bust. DUH

 

[AntonToo]

I credit Obama with killing the recovery via his bullshit regulations and policies. The recovery took much longer than it should have.

How long should Great Recession, with 8 Trillion dollar economic damage with a global scale, take to recover form???

You don't have the first clue is the correct answer.

United States came out of the recession considerably faster compared to Europe and Asia.

U.S. Economic Recovery Looks Good Compared With Sluggish Europe, Asia

 

[Ray From Cleveland]

I credit Obama with killing the recovery via his bullshit regulations and policies. The recovery took much longer than it should have.

How long should Great Recession, with 8 Trillion dollar economic damage with a global scale, take to recover form???

You don't have the first clue is the correct answer.

United States came out of the recession considerably faster compared to Europe and Asia.

U.S. Economic Recovery Looks Good Compared With Sluggish Europe, Asia

How about compared to America?

Obama Wins The Gold For Worst Economic Recovery Ever

 

[AntonToo]

I credit Obama with killing the recovery via his bullshit regulations and policies. The recovery took much longer than it should have.

How long should Great Recession, with 8 Trillion dollar economic damage with a global scale, take to recover form???

You don't have the first clue is the correct answer.

United States came out of the recession considerably faster compared to Europe and Asia.

U.S. Economic Recovery Looks Good Compared With Sluggish Europe, Asia

How about compared to America?

Obama Wins The Gold For Worst Economic Recovery Ever

Yea why not directly compare to different recessions with different causes and remedies?

After all, inflation problems, .COM bust and Real Estate/Finance collapse are really all the same.

 

[AntonToo]

Psst do you know what debt is? The sum of annual deficits.

2009 budget submitted by Bush in 2008 had 1.3 Trillion dollar deficit...how exactly did Obama cause that???

This myth has been debunked hundreds of times on this board. The Dem-controlled Congress jacked up spending for the final fiscal year. Bush threatened to veto it, so the Dems held most off on most of it until Obama could sign it, which he did almost as soon as he took office. Go look at whose signature is on most of that spending.

Lol you don’t know wtf you are talking about.

Half of 2009 deficit was not due to spending it was due to reciepts that fell through the floor as economy was in recession.

The other half was stiff like unemployment benefits increases from people getting laid off en-mass and TARP, a BUSH administration bill.

The second TARP bill was Obama, not W.

And just to be clear, you blame Clinton, not W for the 2001 recession, that's what you're saying

TARP was Bush's bill.

Is this too tough to look up? Or are you too helpless to do that??

The Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) is a program of the United States government to purchase toxic assets and equity from financial institutions to strengthen its financial sector that was signed into law by President George W. Bush on October 3, 2008.

Troubled Asset Relief Program - Wikipedia

 

[Ray From Cleveland]

I credit Obama with killing the recovery via his bullshit regulations and policies. The recovery took much longer than it should have.

How long should Great Recession, with 8 Trillion dollar economic damage with a global scale, take to recover form???

You don't have the first clue is the correct answer.

United States came out of the recession considerably faster compared to Europe and Asia.

U.S. Economic Recovery Looks Good Compared With Sluggish Europe, Asia

How about compared to America?

Obama Wins The Gold For Worst Economic Recovery Ever

Yea why not directly compare to different recessions with different causes and remedies?

After all, inflation problems, .COM bust and Real Estate/Finance collapse are really all the same.

That has nothing to do with it. Face facts. DumBama was the most anti-business President of our lifetime. He never did anything positive for business other than to continue some of Bush's policies. But business was responsible for what recovery we had--not Obama. If Obama actually did positive things for business, his recovery legacy would be unsurpassed.

 

[AntonToo]

Psst do you know what debt is? The sum of annual deficits.

2009 budget submitted by Bush in 2008 had 1.3 Trillion dollar deficit...how exactly did Obama cause that???

This myth has been debunked hundreds of times on this board. The Dem-controlled Congress jacked up spending for the final fiscal year. Bush threatened to veto it, so the Dems held most off on most of it until Obama could sign it, which he did almost as soon as he took office. Go look at whose signature is on most of that spending.

Lol you don’t know wtf you are talking about.

Half of 2009 deficit was not due to spending it was due to reciepts that fell through the floor as economy was in recession.

The other half was stiff like unemployment benefits increases from people getting laid off en-mass and TARP, a BUSH administration bill.

You might wanna broaden your reading on this issue. Here's one of my articles that have examined this matter:

President Obama: The Biggest Government Spender In World History

What part of what you quoted can you ACTUALLY REFUTE?

None of it is the answer and shame on you for spreading partisan horseshit that is your article.

Let's take a snippet shal we?

Even with the Reagan defense buildup...total federal spending as a percent of GDP declined from a high of 23.5% of GDP in 1983 to 21.3% in 1988 and 21.2% in 1989. That’s a real reduction in the size of government relative to the economy of 10%, a huge achievement.

Wow what an amazing feat...almost as good as 25% to 21% drop under Obama, who you not only not congradulate on "huge achievement" but actually beat upside the head the entire article.

And it's amazing how you rightwinger cranks never seem to understand that revenues are no less a component of deficits than spending. Reagan, who you praise as an example to Obama, spent big and also slashed revenues with big tax-cuts. Sane fiscal conservatism was CLEARLY not in his repertoire.