I think we were in disbelief. I think we saw Bush's spending as aberrations in his otherwise pro-Constitution, conservative stances.
The difference now is that brocko told us what he was going to do, and then proceeded to to it, by hook or by crook (mostly the latter). He has moved in utter disregard of the Constitution, and promised to do more of the same, again and again, "because that is what I've been elected toodoo." This reckless, America-hating pattern has brought us out of the woodwork, as we see the desperation of the left to cram, jam and bully its way to one-party rule by creating perpetual dependent classes. The tea party movement is a desperate demonstration against all that. It is amorphous, leaderless and utterly spontaneous.
That is why the left doesn't get it.
Your right. When Bush was approving the higher spending, it was totally against what we think is right, but the obama regime took that plan and accelerated it to the point where it is no longer a small problem, but it is a direct threat to our financial stability. IMO, the lib dims look at govt as their religion and obama as their spiritial leader. We are seen by them as attacking their religion. This is all emotionally driven. If a lib ever will shut off the emotional aspect and look at the situation logically, they cannot support obamunism. Kind of like a lib who gets mugged is less inclined to be a lib.