The Democrats spent 2006 bitterly complaining about the deficit and told everyone who listened that they'd slash spending once they got into office. Well, guess what? No, guess! "They told the truth?" Wrong answer. "It hasn't been decided yet?" Nope. "They lied to the American people again?" There you have it!

Senate Democrats announced plans for the biggest increase in domestic ``discretionary'' spending in at least three years, setting up a potential clash with the Bush administration, which proposed to leave those programs at current levels.

The Democrats unveiled a 2008 budget plan yesterday that would provide a 4.5 percent increase next year for education, health care and other domestic programs. Senator Robert Byrd, a West Virginia Democrat, said the $18 billion increase is needed to shore up a host of programs eroded under years of Republican budgets.

``The squeeze on domestic discretionary spending these past years has done a lot of damage to the infrastructure of our nation,'' Byrd said. ``It has resulted in budgetary shortfalls that are wholly irresponsible, and they must be addressed.''

...Republicans mocked the plan, saying Democrats proposed a big increase in federal spending while providing only vague notions of how to pay for it.

``It's almost like a `Wizard of Oz' tax policy here,'' said Senator Judd Gregg, the top Republican on the budget panel. ``There's somebody behind a curtain -- we haven't seen who it is -- but that person is supposedly going to have the answers of how we're going to get this new revenue.''

...``It is encouraging that the Senate Democratic Budget embraces the president's goal of balance in 2012, but I am disappointed that their path to balance is paved with higher taxes, higher spending and what can only be characterized as budgetary slights of hand,'' Office of Management and Budget Director Rob Portman said in a statement. ``What's even more concerning is their proposal ignores our biggest budgetary challenge - the unsustainable growth in entitlements.''

My favorite quote from that is, "The squeeze on domestic discretionary spending these past years has done a lot of damage to the infrastructure of our nation."

We've got a large deficit which the Democrats understandably complained about incessantly in 2006, but now that they're in office, it turns out that they think Congress and the President were actually putting the, "squeeze on domestic discretionary spending." Who'd of thunk it...well, other than everyone who knows anything about the economic policies of the Democratic Party?