From the Corner:

Catching up after a trip to yet another undisclosed location... More cash for the NEA?

Good grief. Everytime you think that it's impossible for George W Bush to spring another rat from his hat, he goes and does it again, but, to take some recent instances, what else can you expect from a president who signs laws he believes to be unconstitutional, proposes a vast guestworker program in the middle of difficult times for blue collar America, recruits Jules Verne as a science advisor, squanders a SOTU driveling on about steroids, and as for the budget...

I don't think liberals quite realize the symbolism of the NEA statement. Budgetwise, the NEA amounts are lost in the noise. Irrelevant. But imagine if the Democratic presidential candidate suddenly came out to make third trimester abortion illegal. Would that bust the budget? No. But it is an important philosophical statement.

Bush advertised this increase. It could have been dropped quietly into the budget, like a hundred thousand other items, and probably only been noticed by the press a month from now.

But Bush actually bragged on this. It says something important. It says, "I'm not Reagan. I don't believe in small government." Who he is, God knows. I will still vote for him, since everyone in the Democratic primary is a frigging train wreck for this country (all would spend far more than Bush, and totally screw up national security.) But boy, would I like to see a real Republican in a national office again someday.