What might have been:

If the federal budget had grown from the day George W. Bush was inaugurated at the same annual rate it had for the six years before he came to office, the federal budget would consume only 17% of GDP today. And it would be balanced, even after taking into account the tax cuts. Instead, the budget is still unbalanced today and government spending hovers around 20%.

Of course, just as culpable as Bush is Congress, which I don't think has had a pro-spending-cut majority since about 1995. Since then, the trend has been accelerating spending growth. (Of course, there have been occassional small, pitiful signs that things are finally starting to turn around; make of that what you will.)