What Most People Don't Know About US Budget Deficits

Many Americans believe that US budget deficits have grown as a result of the fiscal policies employed by the Obama Administration.  The opposite is true.  The decline in the US budget deficit since 2009 is the largest four year decline since demobilization after WW ll.  Moreover, the budget deficit in 2009, after Obama took office, was a foregone conclusion.  It was determined largely by fiscal policies during the Bush Administration.  George Bush cut taxes, which reduced revenues, and he increased spending by conducting an unfunded war in the mid-east and by adding a drug benefit to Medicare.  The improvement in budget deficits during the Obama Administration would have been even greater if he had not continued some of the Bush tax cuts prior to 2012.  It should be noted that the deficit hawks in the GOP were silent about the growth in budget deficits during the Bush Administration.  They saved their concern about deficit growth for the Obama Administration.  Consequently, many Americans are not aware of the decline in budget deficits since 2009.  It has been drowned out by noise from Republicans who were silent during the Bush Administration.