Paul Sadler’s claim about debt under Bush led to readers’ No. 4 favorite

In a July 2012 debate before Democratic voters nominated him to run for the U.S. Senate, former state Rep. Paul Sadler bemoaned the federal debt, saying the U.S. has “never seen national debt like this. It doubled during the Bush administration.”

In raw terms, both the public debt and gross federal debt more than doubled during the fiscal years corresponding to George W. Bush’s presidency. However, adjusting for inflation, gross debt increased 70 percent over those years, while public debt increased 88 percent.

That’s not quite doubling.

Sadler’s claim was rated Mostly True.

And our check of his poke landed No. 4 among reader favorites, based on online views.

Read the full check to the right along with the Ron-Paul-dominated fact checks that finished fifth to tenth among reader favorites.

We’ll reveal our No. 3 reader favorite here tomorrow.