Derek Thomson is a bit confused. The graph shows the growth of total real per capta government spending, that is federal plus state plus local. This is explained in the comment thread of Thoma's post.

I think the extreme pattern of state and local might have something to do with property tax revenues, has at least something to do with California being at the limit due to prop 13 and Schwarzenegger, and has a good bit to do with the Republican pickups in State legislatures and governors' mansions in 2010.

In any case it is not reasonable to blame Obama who did most of what he could for state and local governments in the ARRA. Blame Ben Nelson for trimming the fat, frying the bacon and milking the sacred cows (and loving it) instead.

On
http://maddowblog.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/03/20/10779346-forget-what-youve-heard-from-the-gop-about-spending-and-regulations#comments