Yeah, and hamburgers are more expensive than ever before, too...

No doubt you've heard we should all run ol' Georgie-Boy out of office because he's spent us under the table. Of course, most the people raising the issue are people who, in my experience, were deeply concerned he'd "cut" government programs before he took office, so the complaint often strikes me, when not coming from a conservative such as myself, as disingenuous.

Today Instapundit refers us to an interesting article from Deinonychus antirrhopus (whatever that is) about the deficit, which seems to prove what I'd suspected all along: that the "largest deficit" quote ignores the GDP.

Which is stupid. It's like complaining that you've spent more on food than ever before, when, in fact, the relative cost to your salary -- or even the national average -- may even have gone down. That just isn't the way responsible calculations are made.

So -- surprise, surprise, it looks like the deficit, when compared to the taxable GDP, is not the highest ever. In fact, it's only 17th:

The years 1941, 1942, 1943, 1944, 1945, 1976, 1982, 1982, 1983, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1990, 1991, 1992 and 1993 are all higher as a percentage of GDP.

But that doesn't sound so impressive, doesn't it?

Hey, it's still not great. But, as much as Bush spends, he's downright frugal compared to some of the plans I found on Kerry's site. And that's always fun too:

Liberal: BUSH is spending too much!
Conservative: Yes, he sure is! So I guess you're going to vote for him, then?
Liberal: Huh? What do you mean?
Conservative: Well, Kerry promises to spend even more. So I'd guess if spending is a problem, you'll have to vote for Bush.
Liberal: Uh, wait. Let's talk about Iraq, instead...

The irony is delicious.

Steve also comments on this bit of spin:

The article from CBS Market Watch is also pretty bad with its headline: Long-term budget picture worsens: Congressional Budget Office sees record $422 bln deficit. Well not really. The budget deficit estimate declined $55 billion! How a $55 billion dollar decline in the deficit is a "worsening of the budget outlook" is beyond me. Maybe it is kind of like how the economy shrunk last quarter according the innumerates at Reuters (Reuters handily changed the headline and the previous one disappeared down the memory hole).

Yes, I'm sure Kerry's tax hikes will fix that situation in no time.