Before you dismiss this season’s Presidential race as an easy one between a profligate Democrat and a fiscally-restrained Republican, review this W. James Antle III piece from the The Foundation for Economic Education:

. . .over the past few years the Republicans have enjoyed unified control over both houses of Congress and the White House. Instead of a renaissance of spending restraint and economic freedom, government has grown at a prodigious clip.
According to the Cato Institute, total federal outlays are scheduled to rise by 29 percent between 2001 and 2005 while discretionary nondefense spending in particular will climb 36 percent over this same period. During President Bush’s first term, we have seen three of the five largest annual increases in real discretionary spending of the past 40 years.

This is not to suggest that Mr. Kerry would enact policies to reduce this trend if he is elected President. However, it is important to remember when you hear the inevitable drumbeat from the Republicans that Mr. Bush and the Republican-controlled Congress are acting in a fiscally responsible manner.
Hat tip to the good folks at Southern Appeal for the link to this article.