This is a theory I've often heard, and personally suspect to have a good deal of validity (although obviously it's an oversimplification). In good economic times, people don't mind the government spending a lot - after all, the economy is doing well, what can go wrong? In bad economic times, people think the government ought to be more stingy.
Of course, this is pretty much the opposite of what you really want. When the economy is doing well is the time to reel in spending and raise taxes. When the economy is doing badly is the time for stimulus spending and a larger deficit.
The mistake is associating one party or another with spending. While American conservatives speak of cutting spending rarely does this happen in practice. Think of the Iraq war under Bush, or my favorite, in 2003 Republicans extending Medicare's prescription drug coverage to essentially pander to elderly voters [1]. Not to mention most voters are poorly informed. Most elections are won by charismatic candidates and campaigns that can weave a coherent narrative rather than by the population's calculations on what spending policy is best for the country. I worked in politics for years, including for Obama for America in 2008 and wow undecided voters are scary. And those are the people who decide elections, people who are largely poorly informed & making gut decisions about who has the power to start wars for the next four years.
Of course, this is pretty much the opposite of what you really want. When the economy is doing well is the time to reel in spending and raise taxes. When the economy is doing badly is the time for stimulus spending and a larger deficit.