Bill Clinton had a catch phrase that resonated during the 1992 presidential campaign — “It’s the economy, stupid” — and helped him beat incumbent George H.W. Bush. It served as a reminder that voters generally care most about their financial health.

And so the effects of a recession, one much smaller than the one we now battle, helped usher the elder Bush from the White House after one term.

Well, these days, it’s still all about the economy. So here’s another of those slogans that would seem to capture the current mood — “You can’t spend your way to prosperity.”

But that hasn’t kept the current administration and Democrats in Congress from trying their best to prove that statement wrong.

Now financial experts tend to debate the merits of the $787 billion stimulus package that was passed during the darkest of recent financial woes. It was designed to spread money throughout the diverse United States economy and, as the label indicates, stimulate new opportunities, create jobs and generally elevate the mood of the nation.

And, as you would expect, throwing that much money at the problem did have some positive effects. But it didn’t magically produce happiness and financial stability.

What we know it definitely did is add to the national deficit.

And it’s safe to say that the stimulus package didn’t have the desired effect of lowering the unemployment rates to acceptable levels.

We know that because congressional Democrats have gone to the well one more time by voting to restore unemployment benefits to 2.5 million people who have been out of work for more than six months. Actually the legislation, signed into law by President Obama July 22, will benefit 5 million eligible unemployed workers.

Most Republicans opposed the measure because it would add $34 billion to a national debt that has hit $13 trillion, arguing that it should have been paid for with cuts to other programs, such as unspent money from the economic stimulus bill.

But as costly as the unemployment benefits will be, it could have been worse. The Democrats had a much bigger package in mind to “renew” effects of the stimulus effort. But Republican opposition headed off $24 billion in aid to state governments to help them avoid layoffs and higher taxes, as well as a package of expired tax cuts and a health insurance subsidy for the unemployed.

Sure, it’s difficult to be against help for millions of people who have seen their jobs evaporate, but you also have to be concerned over what it does for the soul of a nation that already is swimming in debt. It’s the equivalent of going out and buying a new wardrobe to raise your spirits in difficult times, but putting the cost on an overloaded credit card. The new clothes will wear out eventually, but the added debt still will be there to wear on your mind for a long time.

Yeah, it’s worth trotting out that new catch phrase: “You can’t spend your way to prosperity.”