Most of that was debt from prior administrations. Obama's policies and initiative added about a quarter of that.
OH GOODY - THAT OL' LIE...AGAIN!
"Obama 'inherited' all that debt and those economic / financial problems!"
Yes, Barak Obama DID 'inherit' a lot of that debt and those economic / financial problems ... FROM HIS FELLOW DEMOCRATS!
As we have gone through before - and as the snowflakes keep denying over and over:
Barry attacked Bush over the debt, calling him 'Un-Patriotic' for adding
$4 Trillion in new debt in only 8 years. But let's break that down:
- During Bush's 1st 6 years as President- which included 9/11/01, the economic aftermath (closing of Wall Street, etc) after 9/11/01, and 2 on-going wars AND WITH A GOP-CONTROLLED CONGRESS - ONLY $2.5 Trillion in new debt was added IN 6 YEARS.
- Democrats took over a nearly-Super Majority Control of congress at the beginning of bush's last 2 years in office ... which means DURING BUSH'S LAST 2 YEARS IN OFFICE DEMOCRATS CONTROLLED THE ECONOMY & THE 'PURSE STRINGS' - SPENDING! Democrats held that Near Super Majority Control of Congress - control of the Economy and Spending until the end of Obama's 2nd year in office .... which means IF BARRY INHERITED ANYTHING, IT WAS FROM HIS FELLOW DEMOCRATS!
'Interestingly' enough,
in Bush's last 2 years during which time DEMOCRATS controlled the Budget / the Economy / Spending, DEMOCRATS added $1.5 TRILLION in only 2 years, only $1 Trillion less than the Bush GOP-controlled Congress had in 6 years!
So, again, what snowflakes claim Obama 'inherited', he 'inherited' from his fellow DEMOCRATS who had a near super majority control of Congress the previous 2 years.
Almost immediately Barry acted to 'create Jobs' & 'help the economy'. His big idea was the FAILED nearly $1 TRILLION 'Stimulus Bill...that contained over 7,000 pieces of DNC-ONLY self/party-serving PORK, all at tax payer expense.
In the end as the US IG reported, the Stimulus failed to keep unemployment under 9% as promised, and the cost to tax payers for each job created was approx. $742,000! (Of course, Obama claimed to have created / saved more jobs than he actually did, according to the CBO.)
Obama took advantage of the Democrats having a near super majority of Congress for the next 2 years, and at the end of his 1st term - after 4 years - HE and his fellow Democrats had racked up almost $7 Trillion in new debt.
Of course, ever since then, like you, snowflakes have been trying to re-write history.
Method 3. How Obama's Policies Increased the Debt
Is it fair to blame any president for events over which he had no control? During Obama's terms, there was less
federal income than usual. That is because the recession and the
Bush tax cuts reduced tax receipts. At the same time, the cost of
Social Security, Medicare, and other
mandatory programs continued to increase.
The fairest method is to measure the debt incurred by Obama's specific policies. The
Congressional Budget Office does this for every program. The CBO found that the largest contributor to the debt was the
Obama tax cuts, which were an extension of the Bush tax cuts. They added $858 billion to the debt in 2011 and 2012.
The next largest was
the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. It added $787 billion between 2009 and 2012. It cut taxes, extended
unemployment benefits, and funded job-creating public works projects. Like the Obama tax cuts, the ARRA was an attempt to stimulate the economy after the
2008 financial crisis
Obama increased
military spending to an average of $800 billion a year. In fact, his security budget request of $895 billion in FY 2011 set a new record.
In FY 2013, he requested $851 billion. That happened even though he withdrew troops from Iraq in 2012 and eliminated the threat from Osama bin Laden in 2011. Obama spent $857 billion in contingency funds during his administration. That was more than the $850 billion Bush devoted to the
War on Terror.
What about the
Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act? It didn't add anything to the debt in Obama's first term. That's because most of its costs began in 2014. That's when it set up
health insurance exchanges and extended coverage to more low-income people. In fact,
tax increases offset costs to the tune of $104 billion between 2010 and 2019. For more, see
Obamacare Costs.
Congress and Obama also negotiated the
sequestration budget cuts. They cut the deficit by a small percent. When all these are added up, Obama's debt contribution was $983 billion between 2009 and 2017. (Source: Ezra Klein, "
Doing the Math on Obama's Deficits," The Wall Street Journal, January 31, 2014.) Find out whether
Trump or Obama Is Better for the Economy.
How Much Did Obama Add to the Nation's Debt?