Collender Examines Bush's Budget "Strategy" In a succinct synopsis of President's Bush sudden switch from spendthrift to scrooge, Stan Collender asks in his latest Budget Battle column ($) why Bush has declared a(nother) unwinnable war. It's unclear why the White House would issue five veto threats just in the last two weeks of budget bills fractionally larger than his requests when the six-year

Prompted Matt's harping on the Hamilton Project (see here, here, and here [but no so much here]) and my keen interest in economics, I've been trying to substantiate this thesis: There is a real and important difference between pro-market policies and pro-business policies. Although policies designed to encourage business growth may actually increase the size of the economic pie, it does not necessarily follow that those policies in fact (1) improve economic efficiency and (2) improve equity.

Match the following four responses to yesterday's news that former Rep. Jim Nussle (R-IA) will replace OMB Director Rob Portman with the four names listed below:

• A. "I regret Budget Director Portman is resigning."
• B. "It's an act of absolute confrontation."
• C. "It's good for my mental health."
• D. "My immediate reaction is not one I'm wise to articulate."

• 1. Rep. David Obey (D-WI)
• 2. A member of the Bush cabinet
• 3. Rep. Steny Hoyer (D-MD)
• 4. Sen. Kent Conrad (D-ND)

I stumbled across a copy of the president's weekly radio address this morning and, for the life of me, can't figure out what Mr. Bush is smoking. The address summarized Bush's record on fiscal policy, stating outrageous claims like the president's tax cuts were a success, that Bush has enacted fiscal discipline in Washington, and that government spending imperils economic growth. These statements are all pretty much wrong, but the worst part of the speech was this: Over the past three years, we have met the urgent needs of our Nation while holding the growth of annual domestic spending close to one percent - well below the rate of inflation...By keeping taxes low and restraining Federal spending, we can meet my plan to have a balanced budget by 2012. Let's take a look at how well the president has met the urgent needs of our nation. Just recently, we've come across the following reports:

• New Hampshire may have to cut food and other assistance for the elderly;
• Hunger in America could be significantly curtailed if we'd only invest a little more;
• Backdoor cuts to Medicaid have drawn the ire of state Medicaid directors. Michigan is one state that has cut its Medicaid program;
• Delays and insufficient funding in the FY 06 spending bills threatened cuts to veterans health care, the Social Security Administration, the Food Safety and Inspection Service, the Small Business Administration, the FBI and DEA, Amtrak, and low-income housing programs - all of which have been operating on shoestring budgets over the past several years;
• The Walter Reed scandals appear to be a budget issue at its core with privatization of government services pursued to save money over delivering quality services;
• A growing number of sinkholes are increasingly becoming a problem around the country - mostly due to underfunded or neglected federal wastewater management programs;
• The Food and Drug Administration has largely blamed budget cuts and a lack of resources for their poor responses to recent food safety problems;
• The Center for Disease Control stated last week they lacked funding to put a plan in place to respond to a large tuberculosis outbreak;
• The president's own Millennium Challenge program, which provides funding to foster the development of poor countries, was running $400 million to $1 billion behind in January, 2007;
• Even funding for Iraq reconstruction has been insufficient and mismanaged;

Unfortunately, this is just the tip of the iceberg of unmet needs around the country the president doesn't even seem to be aware of. What's more, the president has presided over the largest increase in the national debt in history, as it has increased from $5.95 trillion to close to $9 trillion during his presidency. At this point, it's a little late for him to be shooting for a balanced budget in 2012 - 3 years after he leaves the White House. I'm afraid the damage has already been done.