Although I agree that we could have, in fact should have spent less but on a percentage basis and compared to previous administrations we did not fare so bad. And that's considering the spending for the two wars and Homeland security which I agree was a waste of money.
I am in hurry and don't have time to check the numbers so this is all from my probably flawed memory but I look at the spending as a percentage of our GDP and although it could have been lower it was not the cause of everything bad with the economy.
As for the bank bailouts I agree bad move! But then again we have to acknowledge that we don't know everything about the bank failures and I for one still think there was something a lot more sinister going on behind the scenes that we don't know about and something had to be done quickly to avoid a real desaster. In fact whenever I think about that I also think of BO and Sorros and who knows who else in their quest to remake this wonderful country in their socialist image.
Really have to go but agree or not I hope you get my point.
What you seem to be saying is that a little bit of socialism is acceptable. However, spending on entitlements and education were tremendously bigger on George Bush’s watch than anything before it. There is also the Wilsonian Progressivism of nation building. That gets written off as a national defense/security expense but it’s not.