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It is generally undeniable that since the rise of Reagan, the GOP has taken kindly to deficit spending. Cheney has said repeatedly that they proved that deficits did not matter during the early 80's. He and the NeoCons are much less fiscally conservative than mainstream Republicans and that is why many within the GOP are concerned about the Bush Administration's fiscal plan.
I would not argue that a slowing economy was in place when GW Bush took office and that 9/11 dealt quite a blow to the U.S. economy. I would argue that continuing with tax cuts, large and significant tax cuts, while increasing spending on domestic programs and the military shows poor fiscal policy and a willingness to place the burden of war and the cost of this recession on future generations. I think that Clinton and the Congress of the 90's showed us that we can attain a high level of ecomonic security and success while avoiding the creation of deficits. You can argue that we needed to increase military spending during those years (of course Clinton was just continuing post Cold War policies put in place by Secretary of Defense Cheney and GHW Bush), but we easily could have used the surplus money the Clinton Administration generated to help facilitate that.
I am not opposed to tax cuts or even deficits. I think we can all agree that deficit spending post Depression and during and post WWII was necessary. I think you can even make the arguement that deficit spending accelerated the fall of the Soviet Union. I do not think that deficit spending will help defeat Al Qaida or the "War on Terror". I think that a rollback to a more Clinton era tax structure, while including much of the first Bush tax cut/stimulus plan would help to slow deficit spending and pay for the war, military expansion etc.
Overall, I truly believe that Democrats are much better stewards of the nation. Yes, they do spend money on social programs, but Republicans spend on them as well and increase spending on military matters at a much higher rate. Let's face it, bread is cheaper than bullets. We need to spend on both, just not too much of either.
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Human beings, who are almost unique in having the ability to learn from the experience of others, are also remarkable for their apparent disinclination to do so."
-Douglas Adams
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