[quote=BigGovernmentIsGood][quote=Hobie]i’ll bite….. yup smaller is good. but lets keep it on topic.[/quote]
Well, since you brought up Clinton, let’s look at the facts.
Since 2000, government spending has increased by more than 55 percent. Even when adjusted for inflation in constant (2000) dollars, federal expenditures have risen by just short of 29 percent. During this same period, real Gross Domestic Product (GDP) has only increased by 17.3 percent. Thus, over the last eight years real government spending has gone up nearly twice as fast as the actual U.S. economy.
When the Clinton Administration left the White House, federal spending was 18.4 percent of GDP. In 2008, at the close of the Bush Administration, federal expenditure is 20.5 percent of GDP, for an 11.4 percent increase over the last eight years.
So, as you can see the government was much smaller under the Democrat Bill Clinton than it was under the Republican George Bush. If you are in favor of smaller government, shouldn’t you be voting for Democrats?[/quote]
Your argument is invalid because you’re cherry picking your starting and ending points. As the graph below shows, government spending as a percentage of GDP has generally increased over time regardless of which party was in office. (That big spike is WWII.) This isn’t a partisan observation – it’s just a fact. As a supporter of Big Government, you should be thrilled. And very upset with Mr. Clinton that he was so stingy during his reign.
