USA Today reports that tax and spend Democrats are being outdone by spend-thrift Republicans.

On average, the largest spending increases from 1997 through 2002 occurred in states where Republicans controlled both branches, according to a 2003 analysis by USA TODAY. [...]

Ohio. Spending in the Buckeye state has risen 71% during the past decade, when Republicans have controlled both the governor's office and the legislature. To fund this spending, Republican Gov. Bob Taft, backed by the GOP legislature, has increased the sales tax by 20%, upped the gasoline tax by two cents a gallon and increased numerous small business fees.

Idaho. Spending is up more than 60% in the past decade, mainly under GOP rule. Last year, Republican Gov. Dirk Kempthorne sought a sales tax increase. He asked the GOP-controlled legislature to raise the tax from 5% to 6.5%. He settled for 6%.

Georgia. In 2003, less than 24 hours after becoming the state's first Republican governor in more than a century, Sonny Purdue proposed hiking taxes by about $762 million to close a budget gap.

Of course, Virginia is on that list as well. When our Democrat asshat of a Governor broke his "I will not raise taxes, I will not raise taxes, I will not raise taxes" pledge, and asked for a $1 Billion tax hike, the GOP dominated legislature answered by giving him $1.6 Billion. It is the largest tax cut in Virginia history.

It's also been common knowledge to Ohioans and anyone following their struggle to restore citizens rights to keep and bear arms, Taft is no conservative.

Of course tax and spend Republians are nothing new to us Libertarians. We've long known that most modern day Republicans are like Democrat-lite. A democrat friend of mine once sent a bunch of us some disparaging information about George Bush and invited conservatives to send him hate mail. My response, which he still cannot answer, was to ask him what George Bush had to do with conservativism.