Washington has outdone itself. While the last administration was able to turn surpluses into deficits, with some help from the Clinton Recession and the worst terrorist attack in US history, under the current administration the deficit will balloon up to $1.84 trillion, a record high. As expect, the current administration blamed the last administration for this deficit… but unfortunately for the administration these excuses cannot last forever, especially when Congress’s figures and the White House’s figures make it clear that even next year’s deficit will still be at historically high levels. See these graphs:

So when conservatives used to talk about fiscal responsibility, Americans would look at Bush’s spending and think that conservatives were being hypocritical. The heightened spending during the last eight years included spending on two wars and to help get us out of a recession. Now, Americans realize that the real heavy spenders in Washington continue to be the Democrats who now control Congress and the White House. That’s why they’re called liberal.

Republicans over the last few years have strayed from having a balanced budget but now must return to our principle of fiscal responsibility… abandoning fiscal responsibility was one of the major reasons that so many voters felt that the Republican party was not living up to its own rhetoric. A Republican comeback will only be possible if we can bring back some sanity to Washington spending.

With the current administration in power making the difference between conservatism and liberalism crystal clear with respect to spending, the question is: does America want the burden on the taxpayer to skyrocket as much as Washington is planning? The truth is that government does not create wealth, it can only take away wealth from those that create it. At a time when the economy is hurting everyone, the government is spending taxpayer money like crazy and giving it to the very companies that created this whole mess. Did “spreading the wealth around” actually mean giving billions to failing companies and hundreds of millions in bonuses to the people responsible for the mess?

America needs to wake up.

-AG