Brian Kilmeade of Fox & Friends made the following factually-challenged statement regarding economic growth and unemployment, both things he spun in George W. Bush’s favor…

KILMEADE: I did not think the President was going to do this. He said, let’s just remember what I got when I walked in the door. What I had is after eight years of tax cuts, unfunded prescription drug plans and two wars without financing, I found myself in a mountain of debt essentially. But what he also found was 50 plus months of economic growth going into that. He also found between 5 and 7 percent unemployment. President Bush had it under 5 percent during those times.

Reality called and left a message – economic growth and employment were both going down before Obama took office. Additionally, unemployment was at 7.7 in Jan ’09, not between 5 and 7 percent.

Economic Growth:

Unemployment:

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The Fox Nation web site posted a headline reading, “Obama Triples Budget Deficit to $1.4 Trillion,” which linked to an AP article that suggested anything but that claim. The AP’s exact wording: “[t]he federal budget deficit tripled to a record $1.4 trillion for the 2009 fiscal year that ended last week.”

In fact, the article stated that the Congressional Budget Office’s most recent estimate shows that only a small part of the FY09 deficit can be attributed to Obama’s policies. Before he even took office the CBO projected that the deficit would increase to $1.2 trillion based on Bush’s policies and the economy, at that time.

CBO Report from January 7, 2009:

The ongoing turmoil in the housing and financial markets has taken a major toll on the federal budget. CBO currently projects that the deficit this year will total $1.2 trillion, or 8.3 percent of GDP. That total, however, does not include the effects of any future legislation. Enactment of an economic stimulus package, for example, would add to the 2009 deficit. In any event, as a percentage of GDP, the deficit will most likely shatter the previous post-World War II record high of 6.0 percent posted in 1983.

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