I've been trying to articulate to people how much President Obama spends.  I provide the numbers, show that current spending levels are "unprecedented in peacetime," etc. But it does not seem to sink in, at least not for everyone. So let me try a different tack. Each and every year, President Obama spends more than President Bush did, by the equivalent cost of the entire Iraq War. OK, now I will prove that statement. The numbers from the table below come from the White House's own Office of Management and Budget (http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/budget/Historicals/). Dollars (billions) Inflation-adjusted dollars (billions) Percent of GDP 2001-08 ave. $1,991.0 $2,167.8 19.7% 2009-12 ave. $3,593.1 $3,148.3 24.4% Difference $1,602.1 $980.6 4.7% That bottom-right figure of 4.7% of GDP translates into $733.3B in today's dollars. So, depending on how you want to count, Obama spent $733B to $1,602B more than Bush, every year, on average. (In...(Read Full Post)