It was Clinton's fault for spending money he didn't have when he didn't need to spend it.

But in a poor economy, the government is SUPPOSED to up its spending (part of why it shouldn't overspend when the economy is fine), and many of the increases will happen for reasons that are out of the control of the administration of the moment. (People lose jobs, and then land in the government support networks. That takes a lot of government money.)

Cheers,
Ben