Bush is conservative on most of the big issues but he is not -- and never claimed to be -- a fiscal hard-liner. That was what "compassionate conservatism" was all about.
In this connection, it is possibly important that Bush is not a career politician. If he were, he would probably have spent the 20 pre-White House years taking Republican blood oaths on balancing the budget and falling on his sword on tough votes. Instead, he broke into politics late and high, by running for governor during the boom/bubble years when projected surpluses dominated the debate. We are paying for that now, but Bush has not changed his spots.
Given the craven performance of the current Congress on spending issues, it is now clear who we must thank for balancing the budget in the mid-90's: Newt Gingrich and Dick Armey. The fiscal conservative wing of the party needs to regroup and get back into the saddle. We are going to have an interesting primary in four years.