Ok, time for two more things to be said.
First thing:
Growth (any kind of growth, be it government spending or anything else) is an exponential function. Any chart showing growth over time should be an upward curve and not a straight line. The reason is that as the measured quantity gets bigger, so do it's marginal increases every period.
Take a look at this particular chart, note the growth periods in the late 1970's and the the early 2000's. Both periods increased by about $150B*. That does not mean the growth was the same during each period. In the 1970's, the initial size was about $200B, so the increase to $350B represents an actual growth of 75% (1-350B/200B). But during the 2000's, the initial size was about $400B, and an increase to of $150B represents only 37% of real growth.
The same thing happens in all sorts of places. The stock market is a prime example. 20 years ago, back when the Dow was at 1, a shift of 100 was a really big deal. Today, with the Dow at 14,, a change of 100 points is nothing, just random noise in the system.
The point is that as time increases, the slope of the line should increase even if growth remains even. So don't be alarmed that the line climbs faster and faster as time passes.
Second thing:
"Liberalism" has little to do with party lines these days. Many Republicans are too liberal. Blaming liberals and liberal-type policies for the increase in spending, even though congress was Republican, is no contradiction. It is the truth. The reason the Republicans lost in '06 is because they were too liberal, and the people were fed up with them.
* Actually, according to this chart non-defense spending only grew about $100B during Bush's tenure, not the $150B I said. I used the $150B value to help illustrate my point. Actual growth during Bush's period is only about 25%. 25% is still too much growth, but really isn't all that much, relatively speaking. Also note that a lot of the increase is one-time spending in response to the Sept 11 attacks and the Katrina disaster. Note that by '04 or '05 the increase tapers off significantly.