And if we would have kept Gray Davis, then the spending would have been tens of billions higher.
How? Republicans were unified in fighting Davis' borrowing scheme.
They couldn't have spent more because they didn't have more!
Spending under Arnold has risen at a rate 25% higher than under Davis. Further, Davis was faced with a one-time spending increase to fund voter-mandated class size reduction. Arnold has no such excuse.
The difference is that under Davis the Republicans in the legislature held the budget to minimal growth. Under Arnold they don't.