Nutting argument nothing new

The attempt to make Obama's spending increases into a mere lie fomented by the conservative opposition started well prior to this year, as it turns out.

Rex Nutting has received notoriety or his mathematical gamesmanship in promoting the idea, but Nobel Prize-winning economist and left-wing political hack Paul Krugman was crafting the legend back in 2010.

Charles Blahouse blew the whistle on Krugman back then just as many conservatives are doing today with regard to Nutting.

Blahouse explains how TARP spending distorts the picture:

By far the biggest single expenditure increase in 2009 (44% of the total) was in budget function 370, where outlays for the TARP financial stabilization program were categorized. Incredibly, however, the government overall projects to spend even more in 2010 than in 2009, despite the fact that TARP’s transactions have turned around completely during the current year. OMB has actually projected a positive swing of over $300 billion in TARP spending from 2009-2010 – from a $292 billion net outlay in 2009 to a $25 billion net savings in 2010. This $300-plus billion fiscal improvement will be swamped, and then some, by still more spending increases currently in process.

TARP accounting hides over $300 billion in government outlays, which makes up 8.7 percent of all federal outlays for 2010 as reported by the OMB.  That's a substantial percentage.

I'm not a big fan of answering arguments like Krugman's with figures showing spending as a percentage of GDP.  Using that measure can obscure the fact that lower revenues have a great effect on the percentages.  Blahouse does use the GDP measure but provides enough context to avoid misleading the average reader.  Some of those trying to answer Nutting were not as careful.

Obama was a big spender from the first.  And Krugman's a left-wing hack.