It turns out Bush’s appearance on Meet the Press is turning into a treasure trove of mendacity. In a single one-hour interview, we’ve found instances of Bush’s making false claims about almost everything — weapons of mass destruction, the 9/11 Commission, the Kay Report, unemployment, the deficit, and his alleged military record.
But there’s still another falsehood that’s garnered some added negative attention for the president.
“If you look at the appropriations bills that were passed under my watch, in the last year of President Clinton, discretionary spending was up 15 percent, and ours have steadily declined,” Bush said.
What’s striking about this claim is not just that’s false, but that it’s the exact opposite of the truth. Clinton increased discretionary spending by 10 percent. Bush, the one who claims to embrace small government and abhor deficits, has boosted the same spending by 25 percent.
As Slate’s Tim Noah explained:
[Bush’s MTP claim] isn’t even close to being true. Under Bush, overall discretionary spending (i.e., with defense spending included) has increased every single year. It’s now 31 percent higher than it was when Bush arrived.
But perhaps Bush meant to say, “domestic discretionary spending.” Well, that, too, has increased every single year of Bush’s presidency, and, as previously noted, is now 25 percent higher than it was when Bush arrived.
It seems almost gratuitous to add that in the last year of President Clinton’s term, discretionary spending was up not 15 percent, but 3 percent, and that domestic discretionary spending was up not 15 percent, but 5 percent.
To my surprise, some in the national media actually seem concerned about this. Even the Washington Post editorial board, which has gone terribly soft on Bush of late, had trouble stomaching this one.
“There was only one problem with Mr. Bush’s statement: It was wrong,” the Post explained. “Discretionary spending did not grow nearly as much during Mr. Clinton’s tenure as Mr. Bush implied, nor has his spending record been nearly as restrained as his comments suggest…. Mr. Bush argued on Sunday that his record has been one of fiscal restraint. The facts — once checked — show otherwise.”
And the credibility gap grows wider…