The invaluable Mike Crowley is the first person to explain the surge with any persuasiveness.
THE SPENDING BINGE: Here’s the essential quandary for fiscal conservatives:
On Bush’s watch, the White House says non-military, non-homeland security discretionary spending has fallen from 15 percent to as low as 3 percent. But the conservative Heritage Foundation disputed those estimates calculating that discretionary outlays rose 13 percent in 2002, 12 percent in 2003 and will rise 10 percent in 2004.
That’s a massive discrepancy. If the Congress were in Democratic hands, it might be plausible. The White House could say that it has proposed tighter spending, but that the Congress over-ruled them. But the Republicans control both branches of government! Bush has vetoed not a single spending measure and keeps proposing even more spending. For me, the bottom line is that only divided government can control spending excess. If you’re a fiscal conservative, you’ve got to split the ticket if you want some restraint. The Republicans are no better and arguably worse than the Democrats at stiffing their own special interest groups. So in an era of Republican dominance in Congress, the case for a sane Democrat in the White House is getting stronger.
The Dish 