June 6, 2011 11:09AM 

# Obama’s Spending and Palin’s Stumbling 

By [David Boaz](https://www.cato.org/people/david-boaz) 

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[At the Britannica Blog](http://www.britannica.com/blogs/2011/06/problem-exaggeration-expenditure/) I note Sarah Palin’s misstatement about President Obama’s record on the national debt, and then ask whether that’s the real problem:

> [Sarah Palin](http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/1468279/Sarah-Heath-Palin) and [Michelle Bachmann](http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/1776418/Michele-Bachmann) have both said in recent days that, as Palin put it, ”Look at the debt that has been accumulated in the last two years. It’s more debt under this president than all those other presidents combined.” And they’ve both been rapped by [journalistic](http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2011/jun/01/sarah-palin/sarah-palin-says-obama-has-accumulated-more-debt-p/) [fact-checkers](http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/fact-checker/post/sarah-palin-collects-a-bushel-of-pinocchios-on-her-bus-tour/2011/06/02/AGkNAbHH_blog.html?hpid=z3).…
> 
> 
> So what’s the real problem here? Is it Bachmann’s and Palin’s exaggeration of Obama’s record on deficits and debt? Or is it President Obama’s unsustainable spending?

##### Related Tags 

[Government and Politics](https://www.cato.org/government-politics), [Tax and Budget Policy](https://www.cato.org/tax-budget-policy) 

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