It’s not spending that is the problem, it is the spending of money that the government does not have.
No, both are problems. The whole idea that spending is stimulating - even if it is paid for by taxes - is the greatest falacy of the Keynesians and it keeps rearing its ugly head in a generational cycle. The economy they are trying to inject money into is the same economy they must take the money from. The net result is actually less than zero because of waste.
If we went into the downturn with a reasonable budget/debt management system in place, the stimulus might have worked. But we are too far gone. Not much is going to us out of this mess.