Federal Spending At Slowest Pace Since Eisenhower

[MindMover]

MarketWatch: “Almost everyone believes that Obama has presided over a massive increase in federal spending

… Even Democrats seem to think it’s true. But it didn’t happen. Although there was a big stimulus bill under Obama, federal spending is rising at the slowest pace since Dwight Eisenhower brought the Korean War to an end in the 1950s.”

Roll Call: “A bill that would extend the current student loan rate is just the latest legislation stuck in partisan limbo despite support from both parties for the overall idea. With as few as three legislative workdays left before its recess, the Senate has stalled on measures that have bipartisan support in theory but have hit roadblocks in practice, from the student loan rate bill to a small-business tax credit.”

Religion News Service: ”Dozens of Catholic universities, dioceses and other institutions filed lawsuits in courts around the country on Monday in a coordinated effort, spearheaded by the U.S. hierarchy and Catholic conservatives, to overturn the Obama administration’s contraception mandate plan. The 43 plaintiffs, which include 13 dioceses and the University of Notre Dame, say the mandate forces religious employers to provide contraceptive and sterilization services to employees that violate their beliefs.”

http://www.congress.org/news/federal-spending-at-slowest-pace-since-eisenhower/

[ag_dude]

1. Your title is higly misleading

Federal spending as a percentage of GDP (the only legitimate measure of federal spending) is actually the highest it's been since WWII and has been since 2009.

During Eisnenhower it topped out around 30%. We're currently running near 40%.

[MindMover]

2. GDP is a highly misleading number.....

http://economyincrisis.org/content/why-gdp-figures-are-fooling-and-misleading-us

[ag_dude]

3. You realize I didn't use it as a barometer of growth right?

That's the argument that article you cited makes.

I, like just about every economist in existence, used it in reference to the size of the federal budget in relation to the overall economy.

[Stinky The Clown]

4. uh. right.

[ag_dude]

5. ????

Take it out of the equation as account for inflation for federal spending and our current budget absolutely dwarfs anything even thought to be possible during the Eisenhower administration.

My point was that the original poster's title was higly misleading.

[Stinky The Clown]

6. Inflation has absolutely nothing to do with the *rate* of growth . . . .

. . . . which was the essential point mentioned in the OP.

[ag_dude]

7. His point? Yes. His title? No.

Go back and read what I said, the title is misleading.

[cthulu2016]

8. Add "discretionary" to the headline and it starts to be correct

Federal spending is up. True.

Obama has done very little to increase spending. Also true.

Spending is up primarily due to medicare and unemployment insurance and other direct effects of high unemployment.

If a person who gets fired gets ueunemployment insurance then it is the company doing the firing that really determines how much we will spend. Same for someone losing their health insurance and going on medicare.

Obama has not high-spending policies. It's just that the economy sucks.