Last night during his opening remarks, President Obama said: “[A]s we’ve learned very clearly and conclusively over the last eight years, tax cuts alone can’t solve all of our economic problems, especially tax cuts that are targeted to the wealthiest few Americans. We have tried that strategy time and time again, and it’s only helped lead us to the crisis we face right now.”

Tax cuts alone? This would suggest that the previous Administration (and their allies in Congress) didn’t spend enough to keep the economy stoked.

But later, in response to a question from CBS’s Chip Reid, the president said: “[W]hat I’ve been concerned about is some of the language that’s been used suggesting that this is full of pork and this is wasteful government spending, so on and so forth. First of all, when I hear that from folks who presided over a doubling of the national debt, then, you know, I just want them to not engage in some revisionist history. I inherited the deficit that we have right now and the economic crisis that we have right now.”

Doubling of the national debt? This would suggest that the previous Administration (and their allies in Congress) spent too much and added a terrible burden to our nation’s economy.

So were the last eight years filled with too much spending or not enough?

This is a message gap the president’s opponents may want to highlight.