Government spending has been considered good governance for several decades now.

Mike, the problem is that government fraud and government waste/abuse is at record highs. USDA just acknowledged that food stamp fraud has skyrocketed the last few years. Take a look at the billions given away (with political pretenses) to the dozens of failed green energy companies under the federal stimulus (it wasn't just Solyndra, there were about 25 others). There are many, many examples of this, far more than can be referenced in one post.

I'm not against stimulus plans - they helped certain states to balance budgets, pay for roads, pay for upgrading police computer systems, etc. Those were good uses of money. It's at the federal level where the culture is far different.

And in fairness, the Bush administration spent a ton of money on P.R. campaigns to get people to approve of the Iraqi wars.

It is not a Democrat/Republican thing - it is a mindset of the federal model where they believe they can piss away our money on unsound ventures.

While I had many concerns about Mitt Romney, there's no question that he could have brought a level of fiscal responsibility.