Were you really that naive? They were Democrats. Democrats don't want to cut spending. Did you not know that?
Back in 1992, I didn't know that everyone who worked in the media was a Democrat. I thought they were "journalists" who had no declared political preference.
But why do Democrats want to spend government money? Why do they want to run up deficits? I remember Sam Nunn was a relatively reasonable Democrat, and there were a few others. (Fritz Hollings.)
So why is the modern Democrat party so intent on Deficit Spending? Is it to acquire and keep power?