Political parties and the credibility challenge

I have been unable to muster much passion for political elections for quite some time.  This is probably more of a personal issue than anything else, but presently we have a very contested Presidential election that ostensibly appears to be about the "size" of government and the trajectory of government spending.  So, the American citizen is suppose to choose between two parties that assure us they are up to the task.  Well the graph below (you can find the source here) indicates it just isn't so.

I can do no better than Nick Gillespie's (The Fiscal Times) comments on the graph:

Two things stand out: George W. Bush was god-awful. And Barack Obama looks to be even worse (note: fiscal 2009 includes spending attributable to both adminstrations).

A third observation: The Republicans seem to be the ones who ratchet up spending while the Dems solidify that amount. Which party will grow into being the crew that brings spending down to something that is affordable?

I'm not hopeful that either party is up to the task!