Obama's selection for Chief of Staff, Rahm Emanuel, explains that the financial crisis has some sort of a silver lining: it gives the government an "opportunity to do things we could not do before."  He frames his ideas not as a question of "big government or small government but more effective government," which does a better job at spending your money. For a thorough explanation of why the government can never be a more effective money-spender than citizens, check out Hazlitt's short and readable classic Economics in One Lesson.