the biggest chunk of obama spending came at the beginning of his presidency when he was facing depression or complete economic collapse--he had two choices do nothing or tarp--if he does nothing and the country slips into depression than you guys would have said he sat buy and let the country slip into depression--so he spends the money to prevent potential economic collapse which would have been alot worse than things are now and you guys dog him for spending too much---sure everything looked great for the first 6 year and then are whole economy nearly collapsed--oh but we had a few good years--what a joke---ya your right obama owns the downgrade because he is the only sitting president who has had to deal with tea party who are only concerned about whats in their pocket books be damned everything else--i very much agree that spending must be controlled--but not soley on the backs of middle class and it must be done in a manageable way--getting spending under control does us no good if we destroy our economy to do it--taking massive cuts out of our economy all at one time is a recipe for disaster--as for the flat tax i would have no problem with that but its a waste of time because it will never happen with our current political system--i am in the 36% bracket and yes i know and its unfortunate that the hardworking middle class folks like yourself geo end up paying more in taxes percentage wise than i do--what a shame