In fact, here is a table from the Politifact post, showing the average spending increases per year in inflation-adjusted dollars in the past 60 years (since Eisenhower’s office started in 1953) in descending order by president:
|
President |
Fiscal year baseline |
Last fiscal year |
Average percentage increase per year |
| Johnson | 1964 | 1969 | 6.3 |
| George W. Bush | 2001 | 2009 | 5.9 |
| Kennedy | 1961 | 1964 | 4.7 |
| Carter | 1977 | 1981 | 4.2 |
| Nixon | 1969 | 1975 | 3.0 |
| Reagan | 1981 | 1989 | 2.7 |
| George H.W. Bush | 1989 | 1993 | 1.8 |
| Clinton | 1993 | 2001 | 1.5 |
| Obama | 2009 | 2013 | -0.1 |
| Eisenhower | 1953 | 1961 | -0.5 |
As the table displays, Obama had the second-lowest average yearly increase – in fact, he actually presided over a slight decrease – of federal government spending, in real terms. Did this prevent him from a wave of accomplishments, including healthcare reform for the less affluent people, a strong package of economic stimuli, huge investments on renewable energy and broadband internet technologies, and a continuous support to military and peace missions in the international war scenarios? Honestly, we don’t think so. We all have to (and should) learn from this Administration on how to do more with less – which is the essence of frugality indeed.
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