The American Spectator

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The Spectacle Blog

Let me offer a brief start at Stephen Slivinski's intriguing column by taking on this quote:

One thing we have seen, however, is that Bush, like all politicians, is a political animal. On domestic policy, he usually cares more about scoring one for his own team than upholding a coherent position on the role of government in a free society. I suspect the president would go hunting for his veto pen more often if he were faced with a Democratic House. And imagine how congressional Republicans would fight the sorts of big government schemes they currently push if those proposals came instead from the mouths of Democratic majority leaders.

Yes, Bush is a political animal, one who is willing to cut deals using the budget as wheel grease. I can easily see him cutting deals with Democrats on domestic spending to ensure that he gets all of the defense spending he wants. With the Democrats in charge of the House, they are going to be in a position to aim withering scrutiny at the defense budget. If Bush wants to hold off that sort of assault, there is no better way to do so than offer the Dems lots of domestic spending goodies