Of course I blame Republicans for a number of things. The last Republican Congress was utter crap on restraining spending, and I'll be keeping an eye on this one, too. George W. Bush did several things I didn't like, including (but not limited to) further Federalization of the education system, creation of a new Medicare entitlement, and failing to step on Congress when it spent too much. TARP was a stupid idea, and Republicans pushed it.

But for the past four years, Democrats have held a large majority in both houses, and for the past two years, an overwhelming one. The Republican Party in Washington has been out of the loop since Obama was elected, and the Democrats made no secret of how much they liked this, and considered it their proper due. You tell me who was in charge of the budget during those times, and I'll tell you who to blame.

The secret to decent politics is to not give ANYONE more than the minimum power needed to do a minimum job, and to keep that power from being concentrated. Our Constitution was founded on this idea. Where things always go to hell is that people get the idea that an all-powerful government would be just the thing to make everything wonderful. It has NEVER worked.