Everybody take a look at the chart at James Fallows’s blog. Then email the post to everyone you know who is stupid enough to believe that Republicans are better at balancing budgets than Democrats.

The chart shows how much the federal debt grew, or shrank, as a share of gross domestic product during each of the last several presidential administrations. In other words, it shows when the economy was growing faster than federal debt and also when federal debt was growing faster than the economy. It also shows the average annual rate of growth or reduction during that administration.

To encapsulate, the federal debt shrank as a share pf GDP during the administrations of presidents Truman, Eisehnhower, Kennedy/Johnson, Nixon/Ford, Carter, and Clinton. It grew during the administrations of presidents Reagan, Bush I, and Bush II.

Ezra Klein argues that this phenomenon isn’t so much a result of policy but of recession. “Basically, deficits happen when recessions happen. Anytime GDP shrinks, deficits explode,” he says. And he has data to back that up. Still, part of the Myth of Saint Ronald of Blessed Memory was that the Reagan economy grew robustly, but all the data say otherwise (which is how I personally remember it). And is it really a coincidence that the economy slows during the administrations of right-wing “Reaganomic” Republican presidents?

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In other news — Charlie Rangel is busted.

I wish I had a transcript, but here Dean Baker talks about what really needs to be done to save the economy. Mostly, get health care costs under control:

The health care deficit calculator Baker mentions in the video is here. It doesn’t seem to work in Explorer, but it does in Firefox.

Flaming hypocrite of the week is Republican Andy Harris, newly elected to the House from Maryland. That’s Dr. Andy Harris; he’s also an anesthesiologist. He ran an anti-Obamacare campaign and pledged to repeal health care reform. Glenn Thrush reports for Politico:

“He stood up and asked the two ladies who were answering questions why it had to take so long, what he would do without 28 days of health care,” said a congressional staffer who saw the exchange. The benefits session, held behind closed doors, drew about 250 freshman members, staffers and family members to the Capitol Visitors Center auditorium late Monday morning,”.

“Harris then asked if he could purchase insurance from the government to cover the gap,” added the aide, who was struck by the similarity to Harris’s request and the public option he denounced as a gateway to socialized medicine.

Harris, a Maryland state senator who works at Johns Hopkins in Baltimore and several hospitals on the Eastern Shore, also told the audience, “This is the only employer I’ve ever worked for where you don’t get coverage the first day you are employed,” his spokeswoman Anna Nix told POLITICO.

Under COBRA law, Harris can pay a premium to extend his current health insurance an additional month.

Later, he explained that he was trying to make the point that “government-run health care” was inferior to private insurance. I do think he made a point; just not that one.