[austinTparty]

The problem at the bottom of all of this is a Republican Congress who will send spending bill after spending bill laden with home-district pork to the WH, who always signs it. And then they don't stick up for the WH when it comes to judicial nominees.

On the farm bill: agreed. But don't forget the steel tariffs, either. The prescription drug bill is a disaster.

It used to be that the Dems were the tax and spend party. Where oh where is Reagan's spirit now?

[Owen]

Ronald Reagan signed spending bills, too. The deficit increased during his tenure, and those were relatively good economic times.

Bush has to grow the economy. He is trying to do that by stimulating. One stimulates by cutting taxes and increasing spending. There is little choice in the matter if you want to try to retain some semblance of morality in the WH and deny it to the Democrats.

[RJCogburn]

Where oh where is Reagan's spirit now?

Speaking of Reagan....

Reagan could not get rid of programs that he wished to, which is a comparison some of the Bush diehards like to point out in defense of Bush's failure to do the same.

One of the really great things about Reagan, though, was the way he changed the nature of the debate from 'what is the best way for government handle whatever' to 'should the government be involved in handling whatever'.

Bush has completed turning the debate back to the first question and in that way is arguably not just a big government, big spending President, but dangerous to the very ideaof small, limited, Constitutional government. That may in the long run be even worse than his big spending party.