Need some help re. Obama and the debt clock...

[CentralMass]

3. I'm not sure how much help you will get on that one.

Bush's Reganesque tax cuts coupled with an economic downturn turn + the financial impact of 911 had left us bleeding money. The largely unfunded wars was another factor.

Senator Obama had promised to reverse the Bush Tax cuts during his campaign.but in 2010 he lobbied his lame duck Democratic majority to prevent the cuts from automatically sunsetting and they were extended.
He also had a payroll deductions tax cut passed that IMO further harmed SS.

The gross debt to GDP ratio was about 75% in 2008 and it is about 106% today. During this same period corporate profits have hit some historic highs and have grown by >170%.

So I can't comment on if he had any choice but in my unsophisticated financial opinion his fiscal policies looked a lot like the trickle down policies of Reagan and Dubya. We bled money.

We had some social benefit cuts in there too including cuts to LEAP (home heating oil assistance) that President Obama inexplicably lobbied for (Congress cut it less then he wanted) and cuts to the food stamps program as examples. We also added 8 million more to the ranks of those living in poverty to make it 47 million.

It is what it is.