Wednesday Night Charts & Graphs – The Inherent Excitement to be Found in the Annualized Growth of Federal Spending

From Talking Points Memo, here’s a visualization of how government spending has grown under different presidential regimes, starting with Ronald Reagan. It can be read as a refutation of the Republican lies that President Obama is running up spending and deficits at above average rates. For me, the proper critique of Obama in these figures is that he’s actually not spending nearly enough on investment, from infrastructure to education.

P.S. Want more evidence for the idiocy of austerity?

A new government report said spending cuts scheduled to go into effect in 2013, coupled with the simultaneous expiration of Bush-era tax cuts, will shrink the U.S. economy and raise unemployment — contradicting the Republican claim that reducing the federal budget deficit will spur economic growth.