Obama keeps “cutting the deficit in half” yet somehow he continues to do worse than Bush.
CNBC: The U.S. budget deficit was $95 billion at the end of July, down 3 percent from the same period last year, according to data released by the Treasury Department on Tuesday… The fiscal year-to-date deficit at the end of July was $460 billion, the lowest level since the same period in fiscal year 2008, compared with a deficit of $607 billion for the same period in fiscal year 2013.
By this time in Fiscal Year 2008 (the first budget written by the then-newly Democrat House/Senate majority) the deficit was $371 billion; up from a $157 billion deficit for the same time in FY2007; the last budget written and passed by a GOP President, GOP House and GOP Senate.
Only portions of the 2009 budget were passed when Bush was still in office. Obama was in the White House for nine of the twelve months of FY2009 where he requested additional spending, including money that were essentially loans to businesses but where registered as spending in the FY2009 books. Those 1) one time, 2) loan-type 3) Obama requested spending is the reason why it is misleading for Democrats to claim that FY2009 with its $1.4 trillion deficit should be considered what Obama inherited and a starting point to measure Obama’s budget performance.