(Columbo Voice)One more thing:(/Columbo Voice) On that first debt/GDP chart with all the Presidents on it (apparently we're leaving Congresses out of this), each president is "credited" with the first year of his successor's terms. Reasonable enough, I suppose, as long as it's consistent. Certainly it helps makes Bush look a lot worse, since the number at the end of fiscal 2008 was 69.4 percent.

Obama's numbers at the bottom aren't all there yet. He hasn't completed his first term. But the debt/GDP estimates given in his own budget document for 2013 is 106 percent. If we completed that table based on Obama's own estimates, that's a plus 22.6 percent.

Source (excel file)

Of course, unlike all those other presidents, Obama is doing this for good and proper reasons.

I should also remind everyone that Obama's future budget estimates include major tax increases.