It was $100.2B up to $166.8B at the peak from 1998-2003.
$100.2B to $166.8B is not 35-40 percent, max, it is a little over 66 percent. Even if you delay Davis' culpability until the following year, when spending was $109.6B, he still managed to increase it by $57.2B (more than 50 percent) in four years, at which point the recall campaign really got rolling. He then reduced it (though I suspect his heart wasn't in it) to $154.7B projected for the current fiscal year, which is still $45.1B above the first full year after he took office, an increase of more than 40 percent.
As far as balancing the budget is concerned, consider this. The deficit is reportedly $38 Billion. If Arnold rolls back spending to where it was the year after Davis took office ($109.6B), adjusted for inflation (that causes it to adjust to $124.2B), then $30.5B of the deficit problem is solved (actually a little more, because borrowing costs would go down a little too). Why should that cause a revolt?
You seem to have forgotten that for every dollar handed out, a dollar is taken from a taxpayer. Arnold may discover that for every frown there might very well be a smile. |
