Actually, Bush is somewhat worse than that, as this reasononline article explains: The average annual real increases in domestic discretionary spending were 2.0 percent under Jimmy Carter, minus 1.3 percent in the Reagan years, 4.0 percent with George H.W. Bush, 2.5 percent in the Clinton years, and 8.2 percent with George W. Bush. And wait till you hear about all that pork stuffed into the new budget. Here’s a sample: $725,000 for the Please Touch Museum in Philadelphia, $2 million for the Appalachian Fruit Laboratory, $1 million for the Alaska SeaLife Center, $300,000 for the National Wild Turkey Federation, $500,000 for the Montana Sheep Institute, and $2 million for a golf awareness program in St. Augustine. We all had a good laugh when, during a State of the Union address, Clinton declared: “The era of big government is over.” Bush’s recent State of the Union remarkââ?¬â??”We must spend tax dollars wisely”ââ?¬â??isn’t quite as punchy, but it’s just as hollow.