The deficit in 1980 (constant dollars) was $170.9 billion. In 1988 it was $242.5 billion.
This is not a factor of 3.
The deficit now is about $1.1 trillion. This is four times $242 billion. In addition, the rate of debt growth is far more than it was even during the Bush years.
I might remind you how important this "pap" was to Democrats not that long ago.