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Psaki Chart (Original Post) kpete Oct 2021 OP
If only this would shut them up. But it's a start. JudyM Oct 2021 #1
we need more of this. c'mon media. let's talk about trumps debt increase!!! IcyPeas Oct 2021 #2
Lies, damned lies, and statistics. Make7 Oct 2021 #3

Make7

(8,543 posts)
3. Lies, damned lies, and statistics.
Tue Oct 5, 2021, 11:23 AM
Oct 2021

Misleading (but technically true) statistics in this case. According to the Treasury Department, federal spending has exceeded revenue by about $1.98 trillion since the end of January. Right now we are in the "extraordinary measures" accounting method to avoid exceeding the debt limit - once the limit is raised the recorded debt will likely jump by multiple hundreds of billions of dollars.

The American Rescue Plan Act (March 2021) was a $1.9 trillion dollar spending bill with lots of immediate outlays included. The White House budget estimates the deficit for fiscal year 2021 at $3.67 trillion and for fiscal year 2022 as $1.84 trillion. Actual debt increasing $0.67 trillion since January 20th doesn't really fit with reported government spending and revenue.

Shortly after Trump took office he tweeted:

The media has not reported that the National Debt in my first month went down by $12 billion vs a $200 billion increase in Obama first mo.

Which was nonsense. The federal government sometimes shuffles money around to avoid increasing the amount of recorded debt - that doesn't mean additional debt isn't going to be accounted for when normal accounting procedures are reinstated (or when the debt ceiling is raised).
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