So, if you look at it empirically, Obama has “created” more debt in his one term than Bush did in 2 terms. However, there is a lot more involved in the equation. Bush’s policies might have added significantly to the debt while Obama was in office. Let’s take a look and try to clear up this muddle.

While Bush’s rate of rise was slower, he nearly doubled the US debt ( 86% ) compared to Obama ( 49% ).
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The total federal debt in relation to the economy is reaching historically high levels — approaching levels not seen since World War II. But it can also be seen that the rise started long before Obama took office.

In fact, the upward trend began with Ronald Reagan’s fiscal 1982 budget, declined somewhat from fiscal 1997 through 2001, and resumed the upward climb with George W. Bush’s first budget in fiscal 2002 (which started Oct. 1, 2001).

The cost of Bush’s policies amount to more than five times the cost of Obama’s policies. The Bush tax cuts plus the costly Iraq and Afghanistan wars cost about 2.5 trillion dollars in debt.

Also, the Bush administration overspending on defense cost another 1.2 trillion, which spiraled the debt out control. Let’s now take a look at Obama’s policies.

Much of his spending has focused on the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act, but even more has come from a combination of a two-year extension of the Bush tax cuts and other mandatory spending.

However, Obama’s increased focus on deficit reduction has paid off significantly in the long run. Automatic spending cuts have reduced the deficit by $503 billion, and cuts to defense and Health Care have amounted to a total of about $400 bilion.

The cost of Bush’s policies was $5.1 trillion, and the cost of Obama’s policies was a mere $983 billion.