Both Parties Grow Government

I bumped into an interesting chart the other day. From 1940-2001, the United States federal government has grown no matter which party is in power.

A lot of politicians have given lip service to the idea of shrinking the government during the decades following the New Deal and the Great Society, yet spending continued and continues to rise. I can't imagine how high the line would be on this graph if the years 2002-2012 were included.