Texas Gov. Rick Perry's National Debt Body Art Causes Kerfuffle

Texas Gov. Rick Perry has caused a minor kerfuffle with a tweeted photograph of himself displaying somebody art about President Obama and the national debt. Politifact Texas claims that the tweet and the photo are misleading.

Perry tweets picture of himself with national debt body art

Perry started the controversy by sending a tweet that stated "Since @BarackObama has forgotten how much he's added to national debt #forall our kids to pay off..." The accompanying picture shows Perry in short sleeves with two clenched fists pressed next to one another with the figure "$16 trillion" on them.

Politifact Texas disputes the message

Politifact Texas suggested that the tweet with the accompanying picture was misleading. The article seems to imply that Perry was suggesting that President Obama is responsible for all of the $16 trillion debt. In fact the national debt has, thus far, increased $5.4 trillion under the Obama presidency.

Politifact splitting hairs.

The same Politifact Texas article quotes a Perry spokesperson as suggesting that the webpage was splitting hairs, since Perry in no way actually explicitly states that Obama is responsible for the entire national debt. Politifact Texas also claimed that Obama was not entirely responsible for the huge increase in the national debt that has taken place on his watch, that present and past congresses and presidents had enacted policies that contributed to the increase.

Perry tweet in response to Obama appearance of Letterman

The tweet was in response to an Obama appearance on "The Late Show with David Letterman" in which the president professed not remember what the national debt was when he took office (it was just above $10 trillion.) Obama claimed that Bush-era policies, including the tax cut and waging wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, had contributed to the debt, implying that his spending policies were not responsible for it. Obama went on to suggest that the national debt was not a cause to worry "short-term" because of current low interest rates.

The politics of the national debt

Whomever is responsible for the national debt and its huge increase during the past four years, the fact remains that the sitting president is usually held responsible for fiscal and economic problems, even those that might be beyond control. According to NBC News, Mitt Romney is counting on that fact as he continues to hammer the president on the issue of the national debt. In stump speeches, most recently in swing state Ohio, Romney has suggested that Obama has done little or nothing to decrease federal budget deficit or the national debt. Romney went on to predict that should the president be reelected the national debt will be $20 billion by 2016, with the attendant fiscal instability having increased.

Texas resident Mark Whittington writes about state issues for the Yahoo! Contributor Network.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/texas-gov-rick-perrys-national-debt-body-art-193100749.html

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