Federal debt increased more under Geithner than under any of Reagan or Bush’s Treasury Secretaries*
The federal debt, Glenn Reynolds quips, “Increased More Under Geithner Than Under Any Treasury Secretary in U.S. History.” Interesting that given what Democrats still want to remind us about the immediate past president’s failure to hold the line on federal spending (bad a job as he did on that score, he still did a better one than his successor.
And if the debt did increase more under Geithner than any previous Treasury Secretary, that means that it increased more under his watch than it did under the watch of each of Ronald Reagan’s and each of George W. Bush’s Treasury Secretaries.
One of W’s Treasury Secretary’s, Geithner’s immediate predecessor, Henry Paulson, even served longer than Geithner has so far (by about a month). Indeed, for the better part of Paulson’s tenure, Democrats had a majority in Congress, increasing federal spending at a rate far faster than than had the previous Republican Congresse
All three of Ronald Reagan’s Treasury Secretaries served in that capacity for longer than has Geithner, with the Gipper’s third, Nicholas F. Brady, continuing his service until the end of the George H.W. Bush’s term in office.
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