Washington Times acknowledges reckless GOP spending

No one really faults newspapers for having an ideology.  Just don't let ideology get in the way of facts.  This morning, the Washington Times may have shocked its conservative readership by pointing out that Republicans, not Democrats, are responsible for today's budget mess:

While we welcome the fiscal restraint now being demonstrated byPresident Bush and congressional Republicans, we regret that theirunrestrained profligacy during the previous six years has contributedso much to the fiscal challenges that now confront the nation. Duringthe last six years alone, federal outlays have increased by 49 percent,rising from $1.863 trillion in fiscal 2001 to a projected $2.779trillion for fiscal 2007, which ends Sept. 30. Inflation-adjustedfederal outlays have increased nearly 27 percent in six years. (Federalspending in 2001 was less than 10 percent above its 1995 level.) Forthe 2001-07 period, the average annual real increase in federal outlaysexceeded 4 percent. Because the real economy would have increased byonly 2.5 percent per year between fiscal 2001 and fiscal 2007, federalspending as a share of the economy jumped from 18.5 percent in 2001 (arecession) to 20.2 percent in 2007 (the sixth year of an expansion).

It is a fact that the National Debt currently stands at $8.9 trillion.  It is also a fact that no Republican president has balanced the budget since 1969.