Vice President Cheney, speaking to the National Association of Manufacturers yesterday: By now it's time for even the skeptics to admit that a lower federal tax burden is a powerful driver of investment, growth, and new jobs for American workers. And that increased economic activity, in turn, generates revenue for the federal government. Ummm...you mean even the "skeptics" at your very own Treasury Department? Even they say that permanent tax cuts will make the economy smaller and reduce revenues.

The President's supporters have been contradicting the findings of a 2006 Department of the Treasury study while defending the Bush tax cuts. Check out this new OMB Watch fact sheet for the story.

The Bush budget plays games with funding for veteran's health care. The Washington Post reports: WASHINGTON -- The Bush administration's budget assumes cuts to funding for veterans' health care two years from now _ even as badly wounded troops returning from Iraq could overwhelm the system. Bush is using the cuts, critics say, to help fulfill his pledge to balance the budget by 2012. But even administration allies say the numbers are not real and are being used to make the overall budget picture look better.

EJ Dionne's column on budget trade-offs and priorities is a good read. This president will defend tax cuts by any means necessary. It was one of those moments when a public official gives away a larger truth by offering what seems to be a throwaway line. Testifying this week on President Bush's budget, Treasury Secretary Henry M. Paulson Jr. suggested he would not mind a bit if the Democratic Congress added money to prevent cutbacks in coverage under the federal government's children's health insurance program.