I sat in the Y the other day, waiting to see if my daughter's swimming lessons were going to be cancelled for distant thunder. (In an indoor pool! I don't really understand.) The two teenaged lifeguards tasked with listening for thunder and watching for lightning were discussing politics at the next table in the lobby. He was bloviating; she was listening. He said many obnoxious things that I longed to respond to, but did not. But finally he said one I couldn't ignore. "Do you know that Obama has already spent more than all of the other presidents combined?" he asked. "It's true!" On my way to grab another cup of coffee, I looked at him and said "That's not true."
Now I haven't done the research, but this smacks of a Limbaugh lie. I Googled it this morning, and there are many, many places where this is being presented as fact. I don't even know how to begin delving into budget numbers and seeing what they are talking about and how they are lying, but I am confident they are because, even with inflation, which I am sure they have glossed over, I think this is ludicrous on its face. One thing I did notice was that some entries said he had spent more and others said he had increase the debt more (but more than all combined? Even this I find completely unbelievable). One poster rightly admonished a blog that presidents don't spend money, Congress does. That's a true but weak point.
Can anyone tell us what they are talking about and debunk the lying? I saw no answers to this ridiculous lie out there, and it has the kind of shock and simplicity to become conventional wisdom, even if no mainstream press report it.