Just for the hell of it, I did a little comparison.
In 1961, the federal budget was $97.7 Billion, GDP was $530 Billion, meaning federal outlays were 18.4 percent of GDP.
In 2011, the federal budget will be approximately $3.8 TRILLION, GDP will be about $15.1 T, meaning federal outlays are over 25.3 percent of GDP.
NOW, had the size of the federal budget increased at the same rate as the CPI over that 50 year period, the federal budget today would be:
$722 Billion, or less than 1/5th the size it is today.
So please, DUmb****s, tell me expansion of government is a good thing. Return on investment and all that.