Who's the biggest spender? Did the federal government spend more under George Bush Sr., Bill Clinton, or George W. Bush? The record may surprise you.(For the Record)

According to conventional wisdom, the federal government grows faster when a Democrat is in the White House than it does when a Republican is president. Yet the record shows that federal spending actually grew at a slower rate under liberal Democrat Bill Clinton than it did under President George Bush (the elder), or is now growing under President George W. Bush. The record also shows that during Clinton's presidency, unlike either Bush administration, the federal government actually recorded budget "surpluses"--although these reported surpluses were not based on reality (more on this below). In fact, looking back at the Clinton era from the vantage point of today's ...