No mattter how thin you slice it, baloney is still baloney. You can call giving back taxes paid an economic stimulus; you can call effrort sto end the so called mortgage crisis a bailout ; you can say tax cuts for the wealthy are a way of stimulating investments(in foreign banks for tax shelters).

The truth is all of these are examples of big government as practiced by the New Deal and since then inveighed against on a constant basis. The above are notheng but pure and simple doles to the favored recipients of government largesse. .Every one is against big government unless it benefits him personally thenit is rationalized as necessary and beneficial for the economy or the common good.

Weren"t New Deal welfare and job programs farm subsidies, SS, and legalization of labor unions for the good of groups that needed government help. Has anyone speculated on what might have happened if The New Deal had not addressed these problems? Would more of Herbert Hoover followed by Alf Landon programs of balanced budget, private charity and let the situation cure itselef have ended the Great Depression?

The present government intervention in the economy demonstrates that our government can't just stand by and say good times are coming , God bless you and just wait. a wealthy president and presidential waanabes are not going to be able to tell Americans to take a deep breath and hang in there.

The greatest threat to America is not big government the favortie straw man that conservatives like to knock down, but rather stupid, ineffective and distant government. Among the causes of the Great Depression were the lack of regulation for banks and investment houses, low wages, low farm income and ailing industries. The major cause has often been described as a lack of purchasing power to match the industrial output of America. Are there some similiarities between the 1920's and the present.

The only question is whether the economy should be stimualted from the bottom-up or top-down. Who will spend the most money to drive a service and ownership economy. How many cars houses, etc. can the top 5-10% of Americans buy.

By the way, if there were no big government things like FDIC Federal Reserve, Fannie Man and Freddie Mac, where would Wall street and the public be finding any help? Isin't ir ironic tha WAal Street looks to the FED and bankers look to FDIC.

That's big government for oyu.