Washington State Government spending is out of control. But that is nothing new for a government that's been dominated by Democrats for decades. I decided I wanted to understand just how quickly Democrats are exploding this government, and while you'd think that this data would be easily found on the web, it wasn't.

So for your consideration is the growth, or bloat, of this state's spending habits back to 1983. In advance I'll tell you it works out to an average biennial increase of 14.3%, or roughly 7.2% growth every year. That means a doubling of government spending every 10 years. In Washington, the 2008 budget was 5.3 times the size of the budget in 1983, compared to the Federal Government's growth to just under 3.5 times its size in 1983.

Consider this. Washington's 7.2% average annual spending growth rate is 41% higher than the 5.1% average annual growth rate of Federal spending over the same period. Don't you find that as ridiculous as I do?

The numbers below reflect total Washington State Spending. That includes operating and capital funds both within the General Fund (unrestricted) and restricted funds the Legislature can't touch.

Now if spending is doubling every 10 years, what do you think your taxes are doing every 10 years? Is your income keeping pace? Mine isn't.