Obama says "big government" is not the answer to our big problems.   He told an Elyria, Ohio Town Hall on January 22: 

We don't need big government; we need smart government -- that works and interacts with the private sector to create opportunity for ordinary people. But it can't be this constant ideological argument. People need help. We need to provide them a helping hand. That's what we stand for.

Thanks to the $800 billion stimulus package, and other huge government spending increases, the number of federal and state employees is projected to increase massively. The federal government's payroll may grow by more than 200,000, and perhaps as much as 600,000, over the course of the Obama administration. Obama's budgets, which would result in record deficit spending of $9.3 trillion, would add at least 100,000 additional bureaucrats during just his first budget, and perhaps as many as 250,000.

But the most relevant information on Recovery.gov is that most of the jobs created or saved are in the public sector. For instance, according to Vice President Biden, out of the 640,329 jobs, 325,000 went to education and 80,000 to construction jobs. The difference we will soon find out is going to other government jobs.

You need more evidence? 13,080 grants went to the private sector, and 116,625 went to federal agencies.

Government is not the solution to our problem; government is the problem.

We have witnessed government expanding by every means available...

So, for expanding government, increasing debt, diminishing America's role in international affairs and promoting state involvement in every facet of American life, Mr. Obama can give himself high marks.