“George W. Bush, despite all his recent bravado about being an apostle of small government and budget slashing, is the biggest spending president since Lyndon B. Johnson,” write the McClatchy papers this morning.
Citing a recent Cato Institute report, the paper reinforces our long-standing opinion that, when it comes to spending, our president is far from “conservative.” Aside from the chart above, here are the highlights: - Discretionary spending soared in Bush's first term by 48%, not adjusted for inflation, more than twice as much as Bill Clinton spent (21.6%) in two terms
- Defense spending under Bush has grown an average of 5.7% a year, compared with LBJ’s 4.9% (adjusted for inflation)
- Homeland security spending was up to about $31 billion last year, three times the pre-Sept. 11 number
- Education spending is up, adjusted for inflation, 18% annually since 2001
- The 2002 farm bill caused agri-spending to double from 1990s levels. - “Then there was the 2003 Medicare prescription drug benefit — the biggest single expansion in the program’s history — whose 10-year costs are estimated at more than $700 billion” said the paper.
“He’s a big government guy,” said Stephen Slivinski, director of budget studies at Cato Institute. “He has presided over massive increases in almost every category… a dramatic change of pace from most previous presidents.”
Citing a recent Cato Institute report, the paper reinforces our long-standing opinion that, when it comes to spending, our president is far from “conservative.” Aside from the chart above, here are the highlights: - Discretionary spending soared in Bush's first term by 48%, not adjusted for inflation, more than twice as much as Bill Clinton spent (21.6%) in two terms
- Defense spending under Bush has grown an average of 5.7% a year, compared with LBJ’s 4.9% (adjusted for inflation)
- Homeland security spending was up to about $31 billion last year, three times the pre-Sept. 11 number
- Education spending is up, adjusted for inflation, 18% annually since 2001
- The 2002 farm bill caused agri-spending to double from 1990s levels. - “Then there was the 2003 Medicare prescription drug benefit — the biggest single expansion in the program’s history — whose 10-year costs are estimated at more than $700 billion” said the paper.
“He’s a big government guy,” said Stephen Slivinski, director of budget studies at Cato Institute. “He has presided over massive increases in almost every category… a dramatic change of pace from most previous presidents.”
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