What Exactly are Today's Conservatives Conserving?

For those of you out there who are hesitant to vote for a Democrat because you are worried about the 'big government/big spending' ways of Democrats in general, consider the above graph. This was part of a study by the Cato Institute, a Libertarian think-tank.

Relative to GDP, Bush is the largest spender in the history of our nation. That's right, Bush spent more money than even LBJ, who according to many conservatives was the American equivalent of Karl Marx.

Notice who doesn't even make the top five? That's right; Bill Clinton. During the Clinton Presidency, Federal Government spending relative to GDP actually declined.