Government deficit spending can indeed be the correct course of action. It's not the same as you or me trying to spend our way out of debt. Just look what happened in the 1940s. Despite everything FDR had tried in his 8 years in office, the economy was still in the doldrums.

Which just goes to prove the point that you cannot spend your way out of debt. Several economists have said that FDR's New Deal prolonged the depression.