https://hotair.com/headlines/archives/2012/12/02/fun-facts-about-the-fiscal-cliff/feed/HotAir is the leading conservative blog for breaking news and commentary covering the Biden administration, politics, media, culture, and current elections.en-usTue, 09 Jun 2026 04:17:46 -0400<![CDATA[What was different in many ways during the thick of the Bush years was that spending continued to increase during the good times, too. In 2001, Bush took the reins of a government that was spending 18.2 percent of the economy. By 2008, government spending equaled 20.8 percent of the economy. It then spiked to 25.2 percent of GDP in 2009 (a budget year for which some expenses were Obama&#8217;s but most were Bush&#8217;s). That sort of massive divergence is explainable in light of the fiscal crisis and the Bush and Obama administrations&#8217; responses to it. In my my view, those responses were both hysterical, counterproductive, and at least in regard to the auto bailout, illegal. Whether you agree with me on any of that, you should be worried about whether the boost in spending as a percentage of GDP is a temporary blip or the new normal.]]>Sun, 02 Dec 2012 14:30:33 -0500<![CDATA[Erika Johnsen]]>https://hotair.com/headlines/2012/12/02/fun-facts-about-the-fiscal-cliff-n97963