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Our Views: Obamas Mardi Gras carnival of spending
President appears to ignore fiscal cliff, common sense with big-money wish list
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So much for “the era of big government is over.” The nation’s last Democratic president declared such in his 1996 State of the Union address, though many at the time questioned his sincerity in the midst of a re-election campaign. Yet he joined Republican leaders in Congress to balance the federal budget and create years of economic growth, until that was derailed by the 2001 terrorist attacks.