Conventional wisdom states that Democrats are the party of big spending and social programs, while the Republicans are the party of fiscal responibility. In case Dubya’s turning a record budget surplus into a record budget deficit wasn’t evidence enough for you, DailyKos proves it once and for all :

I’ve made hay about how the GOP is actually BAD for fiscal responsibility — how both Bush presidencies have been marked by record deficits. How GOP governors are currently leading the way with tax increases while most of their newly elected Dem counterparts avoid raising taxes. How the stock market performs best during senate administrations.

But the myth persists that the GOP is a better steward of the taxpayer’s money. Reality is quite different. Those days are long past, the roles reversed.

State legislatures controlled by Republicans increased spending an average of 6.54% per year from 1997 to 2002, compared with 6.17% for legislatures run by Democrats [...]
At a time when states are facing severe budget problems, many Republicans are blaming shortfalls on runaway spending by Democrats during the economic boom of the late 1990s. USA TODAY’s analysis suggests otherwise. It matched spending changes in states from 1997 to 2002 with which party controlled the legislature and governor’s mansion.

This is one of those facts that needs to be hammered home and burned into the brains of every registered voter. The Republicans are fiscally irresponsible. Maybe Churchill was wrong when he said “Anyone that is 20 years old and not a liberal doesn’t have a heart. Anyone that is 40 years old and is not a conservative doesn’t have a brain.” The GOP has proven that the Democrats have bigger hearts and brains.