Fox Business
Expand
Browse All Video
Watch Live

You're watching...

Clarifying Obama’s Spending Habits

Details

  • Description

    Former CBO Director Douglas Holtz-Eakin sounds off on the president’s spending habits.

  • Duration 3:34
  • Date

Clips

Also in this playlist...

Latest Video

Auto-advance: ON

Auto-advance
View All

Transcript

This transcript is automatically generated

Elsewhere -- now we have a new would defend President Obama this morning.

Jared Bernstein he's a former chief economist for Joseph Biden he agrees with this statement by the president.

What my opponent Ben tiger was that federal spending since I -- all.

Have risen at the slowest pace.

Of any president.

It almost sixty years.

It.

All right Jared Bernstein is saying -- the lowest.

Increases in spending since the Eisenhower administration that's what Jared Bernstein writes it all depends on some rather fancy math -- -- But he is the number but we're concerned with fifteen point seven trillion.

That is the national debt it was about ten trillion when President Obama took office.

I'm looking at five trillion an extra debt that's the key number to me that's what tells me the president is a big spend up.

Joining us now is a man who knows more about this than any others Douglas Holtz Aiken -- CBO director.

Okay do our mail lists on my head is the present -- big spend -- all -- -- It looks Stewart I like Jared Bernstein is that he's a friend and I respect him but this is like saying the Mount Everest is a small hill and Paul.

This president has spent more money.

And we can practically count.

Spending has been over 24% of GDP for three years running I no other -- ever been above 24%.

On his watch we've seen and I think -- -- -- apples to apples comparison.

Average annual growth rates as high as 10% and no one else does that so it's very hard to make the case he's not -- -- that.

Back to me that's the key statistic -- proportion of our economy.

Is represented by spending and as you said is 24% on the Obama administration it was back at the I think is 20% under under President Bush.

If you look at spending justice how much it increased year over yeah.

That's it that's a very all of the way of looking at spending proportion of GD -- that's the way to look at it is it.

I completely agree with you but -- we did take a look at these growth rates that they've been banding about in.

It's very hard to make the case they're making the only way you can make it is to effectively -- make former President George Bush responsible for the stimulus spending.

Because it took place in fiscal year 2009.

And he was present when that fiscal year began for the first quarter of it but.

It if you really play fair you see very large growth rates and and they can't make the case to make.

Now can they make a political case can they win -- can the president win politically by repeating over and over again I am not a big -- -- convince people can he win votes.

I don't think so if you notice that the president is not running on his record.

People when asked don't like his policies they're very unpopular.

The contrast between what he promised and when he's done is enormous and very disappointing.

And it's not a good strategy for him to focus on his record.

Instead he tends to try to distract from his record and talk about other issues so.

I I expect us to -- are pretty quickly he would not gonna get rid of this 24% of GDP is government spending we -- just reversed back next year -- with this would this is a long -- process of getting that ratio down as as years.

These are important structural problems particularly in Medicare Medicaid Social Security that the new Health Care Reform.

-- when the president took office we have these deep structural problems.

He has not done anything to address them and indeed has made them worse in every case so.

It will take years to get them fixed because they've been growing for for decades OK Douglas Holtz Aiken thanks for joining us up -- supply.

Load More