"This is not class warfare, it's math."

Huh, not too sure that's going to get more people on your side there, Barry.

^ LOL

He should have said "lunch" ;)

The thing is... It is class warfare, but it was the rich and powerfull who started it 30 years ago.

^Now in this version of Reagan is he the evil corporate stooge or the demi-progressive that the tea party would never vote for today.

Forgive me, but sometimes it's hard to keep up ;)

Neither and both. Things are not that simplistic. Also, it wasn't just (or even mostly) Reagan.

Fair enough.

Interesting...

Number of federal employees (excluding military) in 1980: 1.2 million
Number of federal employees (excluding military) in 2010: 1.3 million
An 8% increase

Population of the US in 1980: 226 million
Population of the US in 2010: 312 million
A 38% increase

Federal spending as a percent of the GDP in 1980: 21.7%
Federal spending as a percent of the GDP in 2010: 25.4%

So much for "out of control government spending"!

Well, that shows that the government has certainly become more productive at spending money (they spend much more money, relative and absolute, with only a few more employees), but I'm not sure I see how how a 17% increase in the relative size of government is a repudiation of the idea that government has become too big.

It isn't evidence of it either, but I don't how your first two numbers have much connection to your third in reaching your conclusion.

According to the right, the ranks of federal employees have swelled all out of proportion. We are also told that government spending has multiplied. These numbers clearly show that neither talking points are true. While government spending has increases slightly in regards to the GDP (almost completely due to military spending, TARP, and the stimulus), the federal workforce as a percentage of the total population has shrunk.

The Federal Government is in no way "out of control".