2010-02-25 22:37:00
Democrat vs Republican Average Budget Deficits From 1946 to 2009
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From 1946 to 2009 (a total of 64 years), the United States has racked up an impressive $10.303 trillion dollars in red ink.
I'm not just adding up the deficits in this equation and leaving out the surpluses - this figure includes the surpluses as well (all 12 of them since 1946).
From 1946 to 2009, a Republican president has been in office for 36 of those years, while a Democrat has been in office for the other 28.
From 1946 to 2009, the United States has posted an average budget deficit of $160.99 billion (inflation adjusted).
During the 36 years that the Republicans have held the White House from 1946-2009, the United States has posted an average deficit of $202.28 billion (inflation adjusted).
During the 28 years that the Democrats have held the White House from 1946-2009, the United States has posted an average deficit of $107.9 billion.
The Republicans have managed to post a budget surplus in 5 of the 36 years, with the most recent surplus coming in 2001.
The Democrats have managed to post a budget surplus in 7 of the 28 years, with the most recent surplus coming in 2000.
The largest inflation-adjusted deficit posted by the Republicans from 1946-2009? 2008 ($455 billion), with 1983 as a close second ($443 billion).
The largest inflation-adjusted deficit posted by the Democrats from 1946-2009? 2009 ($1.4 trillion).
The largest inflation-adjusted surplus posted by the Republicans from 1946-2009? $152.76 billion (2001).
The largest inflation-adjusted surplus posted by the Democrats from 1946-2009? $290.77 billion (2000).
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It's important to note that the average deficit under a Democratic president will rise sharply over the next three years, given the current White House budget projections for 2010-2012. For instance, the White House is predicting that the United States will post a $1.35 trillion budget deficit for the 2010 fiscal year, which will obviously dramatically inflate the Democratic averages.
Source: History of Deficits and Surpluses in the United States
Filed under: General Knowledge
5 COMMENTS - What Say You?
Comment by Bob P on October 06, 2010 @ 2:42 am
Question Please: You credit Republicans with a surplus in 2001. That budget (it is my understanding) was probably created in 1999 or 2000 under Bill Clinton.
Can you clarify ??? Thanks...bp
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Comment by Dave Manuel on October 13, 2010 @ 2:03 am
Hi Bob
In order to keep things as simple as possible, I attributed the deficit/surplus to the president who was in office the year that the deficit/surplus was posted.
This method can be a bit unfair, especially if a large surplus/deficit was inherited from a previous administration..
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Comment by Allen on October 18, 2010 @ 6:50 pm
Dave,
I applaud your efforts on this, but attributing the deficit/surplus to the president in office at the time gives a completely inaccurate picture. Ultimately it is the House of Representatives that creates the budgets. The President and Senate may also submit budget proposals, but it is the House that controls the purse strings. The surpluses created in the late 90s came from the Republican controlled House - the budget(s) that Clinton submitted were going to keep deficit spending going until he was out of office. Check out the third column of page 4593 of the Senate Congressional record.
http://books.google.com/books?
id=RATyep8nF7EC&printsec=frontcover
#v=onepage&q=budget%20that%20bill%20
clinton%20sent%20to%20the%20republic
an%20congress%20&f=false
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Comment by Dave Manuel on October 18, 2010 @ 8:30 pm
Hi Allen
I hear you 100% - a number of other readers expressed the same view.
I tried to expand the analysis in this article:
http://davemanuel.com/2010/10/03/1946-2010-average-inflation-adjusted-deficits-by-president-controlling-senate-party-and-controlling-house-party/
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Comment by Dan Carr on December 16, 2010 @ 1:27 pm
I believe neither party knows what the hell they are doing and should both be gone.
While The Democrats had a surplus in the Clinton Years
George W. Bush and his Imaginary war in Iraq created the highest debt and fiscal irresponsibility this country has ever seen.
Giving Tax Breaks to the Rich doesn't create jobs.
In 1992, 10 million Americans were unemployed, the country faced record deficits, and poverty and welfare rolls were growing. Family incomes were losing ground to inflation and jobs were being created at the slowest rate since the Great Depression. Today, America enjoys what may be the strongest economy ever.
* Strong Economic Growth: Since President Clinton and Vice President Gore took office, economic growth has averaged 4.0 percent per year, compared to average growth of 2.8 percent during the Reagan-Bush years. The economy has grown for 116 consecutive months, the most in history.
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