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Originally Posted by tjinaz
Ok now show the list of which party was in control of Congress when the increases were made. This last go round should show how little the sitting President has to do with the increases or maybe this one just chose to not get involved.
Your current table is propaganda as it does not show the whole picture.
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That's not how government budgeting in the United States works. The federal budget originates from the Oval Office and is then sent to Congress for approval/modification before going back to the president to be signed into law.
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The Budget of the United States Government is the President's proposal to the U.S. Congress which recommends funding levels for the next fiscal year, beginning October 1. Congressional decisions are governed by rules and legislation regarding the federal budget process. Budget committees set spending limits for the House and Senate committees and for Appropriations subcommittees, which then approve individual appropriations bills to allocate funding to various federal programs.
After Congress approves an appropriations bill, it is sent to the President, who may sign it into law, or may veto it. A vetoed bill is sent back to Congress, which can pass it into law with a two-thirds majority in each chamber. Congress may also combine all or some appropriations bills into an omnibus reconciliation bill. In addition, the president may request and the Congress may pass supplemental appropriations bills or emergency supplemental appropriations bills.
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Emphasis added.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Us_budget
Now, one can argue that Democrat-controlled congresses should have fought harder against spending increases proposed by Republican presidents. However, if you want to place the blame for the debt ceiling increases during the 80s on the Democrats, then you have to sacrifice the popular Republican narrative that Ronald Reagan single-handedly won the Cold War by outspending the Soviets. You can't have it both ways. If Reagan gets the credit for spending the USSR out of existence, then he (not the Democratic congress) also gets the blame for the massive increases to the debt ceiling and size of the federal government during that time.