Government spending has increased by more than 55% since 2000

This statistic should astound you (then again … maybe not): Since 2000, government spending has increased by more than55%. Could it be because President Bush did not veto one single piece of legislature his first 5 years in office? Georgie, you just don’t cut taxes and keep spending. You cut taxes and cut spending you knucklehead. You cut spending on things like welfare, medicaid and medicare. And you don’t do $700 billion bailouts! Don’t think for a minute that it’ll get better with Obama in the White House.

When the Clinton Administration left the White House, federal spending was 18.4 percent of GDP. In 2008, at the close of the Bush Administration, federal expenditure is 20.5 percent of GDP, for an 11.4 percent increase over the last eight years.

Washington has run deficits almost every year during the Bush Administration. Total federal debt has doubled and has risen from 58 percent to 66 percent of GDP, for a 14 percent increase in U.S. taxpayers’ debt burden in terms of GDP.

Where has all this additional spending gone? The table below shows the growth in government spending from 2000 to 2007 by general types and categories in constant dollars. (It is not a full and comprehensive list.)

Federal Government Constant (2000) Dollar Outlays, 2000-2007 by General Type and Category
	(Billions of Dollars)
	2000	2007	% Increase
National Defense	294.4	475.1	61
Non-Defense Total*	1,495	1837.1	23
Payment for Individuals	1054.6	1397.1	32
Social Security and Railroad Retirement	410.5	487.7	19
Federal Employees Retirement and Insurance	100.3	116.0	16
Unemployment Insurance	21.1	27.1	28
Medical Care	362.7	559.9	54
Student Assistance	10.9	24.9	129
Housing Assistance	24.1	27.0	12
Food and Nutrition Assistance	32.4	46.3	43
Public Assistance and Related Programs	88.3	103.4	17
Other Transfers to Individuals	4.3	4.7	10
*Items also include All Other Grants, Net Interest, Off-budget amounts, and Undistributed offsetting receipt.