We have met the enemy and he is us.

At first I thought it amazing that this was reported not on FoxNews, but CNN:

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- A quarter century after the Reagan revolution and a dozen years after Republicans vaulted into control of Congress, a new CNN poll finds most Americans still agree with the bedrock conservative premise that, as the Gipper put it, "government is not the answer to our problems -- government is the problem."

The poll released Friday also showed that an overwhelming majority of Americans perceive, correctly, that the size and cost of government have gone up in the past four years, when Republicans have had a grip on the House of Representatives, the Senate and the White House.

Discretionary spending grew from $649 billion in fiscal year 2001 to $968 billion in fiscal year 2005, an increase of $319 billion, according to the Congressional Budget Office.

Queried about their views on the role of government, 54 percent of the 1,013 adults polled said they thought it was trying to do too many things that should be left to individuals and businesses. Only 37 percent said they thought the government should do more to solve the country's problems.

I considered it amazing, that is, until I realized the emphasis is on the Republican's control of the federal government - intimating not so clandestinely that - HA HA - the Republicans are the big government menace they described all those years ago.

Perhaps. But this is only because there are decreasing numbers of conservatives with backbones in congress - the sort of people who understand the need to be fiscally responsible.