Amid the conservative drumbeat about Democratic fiscal irresponsibility comes a bit of news that's ever so slightly inconvenient for the GOP narrative. It turns out that Democrats actually shrank spending during the 2010 fiscal year:

The US deficit shrank nine percent last fiscal year but still topped one trillion dollars, the government said Friday in a report seized on by Democrats' rivals weeks ahead of mid-term elections. For the 2010 fiscal year that ended on September 30, the government had a budget shortfall of 1.294 trillion dollars, down 122 billion dollars from the previous year's record-setting high. Revenue rose and spending fell amid recovery from recession and as President Barack Obama's Democratic administration wound down some of the emergency measures taken to restore growth. The final figures "underscored the administration's commitment" to cutting the massive government deficit, Treasury Secretary TimothyGeithner said in a statement.

And that's not all:

The government took in three percent more revenue in 2010 than a year ago, at 2.162 trillion dollars. It was the first time receipts had increased after two years of decline. But it spent more than it took in, 3.456 trillion dollars, although that was two percent less than in 2009 and the fastest one-year reduction since 1984.

Of course, the GOP and its big-media donor will no doubt continue to focus on the trillion-dollar budget deficit, conveniently ignoring not only these figures, but how our country got into such dire fiscal shape in the first place. The GOP is like a criminally reckless 16-year-old complaining that he's abused because his parents didn't have enough in savings to buy him a car--all while conveniently ignoring the fact that all the money was spent bailing him out of jail. It's a multi-step process:

Get in power through promises of fiscal responsibility and superior moral values.

Proceed to screw things up royally while enriching yourself and your big-money contributors until the voters get fed up and vote Dems into office.

Scream and whine about all the measures Democrats have to take to repair the damage, obstruct every last thing, and accuse Democrats of fiscal irresponsibility.

Watch voters get frustrated.

See step 1. Lather, rinse repeat.

Nice racket, if you can get it.