Certainly Democrats have done more than their share to bloat the Federal budget. But the education spending, the farm program, and worst of all, the massive new drug entitlements, can all be fairly laid at Bush's door. That, and his failure to veto or block any of the other stuff. And I am far from the only conservative who thinks so.

The House Republicans have done a pretty good job in this area, but have gotten no real support from either Bush or the Republicans in the Senate.

My take on it is that if Bush was doing domestic spending policy right, there would be at least as many people pissed off at him as there are with foreign policy. A rule of thumb: If the Democrats, the liberal pundits, and the media are furious with you, you are probably doing the right thing. If you are standing next to Ted Kennedy with your arm on his shoulder, bragging about "our" education program, you are probably not doing the right thing.