A useful look at how our national debt got out of control

Hint: It involved both parties.

This article from the Heritage Foundation not surprisingly puts more blame on Democrats than on Republicans, but the main story is institutional. The Congress has fewer incentives to control spending and what few it had were undermined by the demise of the seniority system. As the Congress has gained power at the expense of the Presidency in budgetary matters the result has been greater deficits.