Yes, it's true. I am a hypocrite. YouTube To listen to Congressional Republicans tell it, you'd think the US's colossal budget and debt problem was caused by one simple thing: The Democrats.

And although the Republicans do deserve significant credit for finally focusing the country and Washington on the magnitude of the problem--really--their hypocrisy on this issue is almost unbearable.

As we've reported, and as the three charts below show, the Republicans are every bit as responsible for the country's budget and debt mess as the Democrats (if not more so).

So it's no wonder that the great silent majority of reasonable Americans are disgusted by what's going on in Washington.

Don't believe that the Republicans are just as responsible as the Democrats for our current mess?

Check out the charts below.

First, the explosion in government spending under presidents Bush and Obama, The first 8 years are Bush. The rest are Obama.

Meanwhile, government revenue collapsed, thanks to the Bush tax cuts and recession (the Bush tax cuts--and the recession that started under Bush). The combination of this collapse and Obama's ongoing increase in spending ballooned the deficit:

And in case you still think the Republicans are on firm moral ground in their sudden fiscal tut-tutting, take a look at the breakdown in that spending growth and revenue collapse, from the New York Times (click for larger):

New York Times

(James Fallows of The Atlantic discusses this chart here.)

When presented with this evidence, of course, Republican cheerleaders will protest that Congress is responsible for spending, not the President. We encourage anyone who actually believes that to send us a record of all the spending bills that President Bush vetoed during his Presidency.

Who's really responsible for our massive budget deficit? Who's really responsible for our explosion in government spending?

The same hypocrites who are now shoving their faces in front of TV cameras and preaching about the need for fiscal responsibility.

See Also: The Truth About Who's Responsible For Our Massive Budget Deficit