This whole argument about whether Obama is the highest spending president ever or whether he is really a fiscal conservative when you get to know him seems ridiculous to me. Here’s why.

What ever the spending increases have been during the Obama administration, the reason they are not even higher is because he doesn’t completely get his way in fiscal policy debates. With every single budget, every debt ceiling crisis, every TARP or stimulus or bucket of money out the door, Obama has argued the spending should be higher.

This goes back to when he was a senator and before. As president-elect, he suckered the gullible W into giving GM an extra $25 billion just a week before Obama took office. That’s fine, he has his political philosophy and he’s pretty consistent about promoting tax – and – spend. He thinks it’s the way to restore fiscal health (yeah, really), that it’s basically fair and good and what he was born to do. But to rejiggering the facts during his campaign and claim he’s really pretty darn conservative is preposterous.

It reminds me of the Democrats’ claim that federal spending and indebtedness rose during the Reagan administration. It did but Reagan in every budget cycle argued down Congress as far as he could. He frankly just wasn’t very good at it and had other priorities, like ending the Cold War. But blaming Reagan for spending in the 80s is like blaming your dog for getting overpowered by the burglar.

Look, W was a wretched president when it came to spending. But Obama has made it much, much worse not better. He should own his values and policies and stop trying to deceive voters with his version of the Big Lie.