The blame indeed belongs to the Republican Congress and Bush.
I believe the Republican Congress went to hell on fiscal issues (and others) when Gingrich left Congress. His leadership was critical. You can actually see the earmark and spending numbers spike when he leaves (he resigned after the 1998 elections).
Note that the rise starts well before the election of Bush.
Bush failed to lead on spending reductions, vetoing NOTHING that came out of the Republican Congress. Adding insult to injury, he actually created a brand new perpetual entitlement (!!), and increased the Federal role in education.
You will get little argument from me on this, but the idea that a Pelosi/Reid/Obama triumverate is going to become the very soul of fiscal responsibility doesn't stand up very well either.
Flame » in reply to And Bush didn't do that why?
Excellent question.