DEBT:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_debt_by_U.S._presidential_terms#cite_note-8

Economist Mike Kimel notes that the five former Democratic Presidents (Bill Clinton, Jimmy Carter, Lyndon B. Johnson, John F. Kennedy, and Harry S. Truman) all reduced public debt as a share of GDP, while the last four Republican Presidents (George W. Bush, George H. W. Bush, Ronald Reagan, and Gerald Ford) all oversaw an increase in the country’s indebtedness.^[2] Economic historian J. Bradford DeLong, former Clinton Treasury Department official, observes a contrast not so much between Republicans and Democrats, but between Democrats and "old-style Republicans (Eisenhower and Nixon)" on one hand (decreasing debt), and "new-style Republicans" on the other (increasing debt).^[3][4]

Bruce Bartlett, former domestic policy adviser to President Ronald Reagan and Treasury official under President George H.W. Bush, attributes the increase in the national debt since the 1980s to the policy of "starve the beast" and an aversion for tax increases.^[5][6] Similarly, David Stockman, director of the Office of Management and Budget under President Ronald Reagan, as op-ed contributor to the New York Times, blamed the "ideological tax-cutters" of the Reagan administration for the increase of national debt during the 1980s.^[7]

Using nominal dollar measures, CNN's Jack Cafferty and CBS's Mark Knoller have noted that the US national debt has increased more rapidly under President Obama than under any other U.S. president, and that it had increased by $4 trillion since the beginning of his term of office.^[8][9]

 

 

http://delong.typepad.com/sdj/2008/05/short-term-cost.html

http://seekingalpha.com/article/174445-comparing-debt-to-gdp-ratios-with-presidential-terms

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_debt_by_U.S._presidential_terms#cite_note-2

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/01/opinion/01stockman.html?_r=1

http://www.forbes.com/2009/09/03/fiscal-responsibility-party-opinions-columnists-bruce-bartlett.html

http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/187725/20110727/economic-another-old-school-republican-bruce-bartlett-says-heavy-tax-cuts-are-large-contributor-to-d.htm

Economist Mike Kimel notes that the five former Democratic Pres. all reduced public debt as a share of GDP, while the last four Republican Pres. oversaw an increase in the country’s indebtedness. Economic historian J. Bradford DeLong observes a contrast not so much between Republicans and Democrats, but between Democrats and "old-style Republicans (Eisenhower and Nixon)" on one hand (decreasing debt), and "new-style Republicans" (Reagan, Bush I, Bush II) on the other (increasing debt).

A former domestic policy adviser to Pres.Reagan and Treasury official under Pres. Bush I, attributes the increase in the national debt since the 1980s to the policy of "starve the beast" and an aversion for tax increases. The director of the OMB under Pres. Reagan blamed the "ideological tax-cutters" of the Reagan administration for the increase of national debt during the 1980s.