Deficit spending

With thanks to Nicholas B. for bringing the topic up, since graphs are so much fun, here is the data from Treasury Department statistics on deficit spending for the Bush43 and Obama (so far) administrations. (Sorry if the numbers aren't so readable - click the photo to enlarge; the chart starts in January 2000 and the spiky blue and pink lines change to smooth in April 2005.)

The higher pitch of the line after January 2009 indicates increased rate of deficit spending. And that bump around September 2008? That represents $ 400 billion in new deficit spending in two weeks. Almost half a trillion dollars. Or pretty close to the total GDP (or twice the US wages) for that time period.