BUDGET HAWKS….The LA Times has a peculiar story today about possible conflict between the president and Congress on spending. Here’s a snippet:
In the first test of the fresh “political capital” he said he earned in winning a second term, President Bush will try to convince the lame-duck Congress that convenes Tuesday to approve money for a host of spending initiatives ? from helping community colleges to exploring outer space.
….”The lame-duck session may provide an early indicator of how successful the Bush administration will be in halving the deficit by controlling spending,” said Robert L. Bixby, executive director of the Concord Coalition, an Arlington, Va.-based budget watchdog group.
The whole story is like that. In one paragraph it sounds like Bush wants to spend more money, and then a paragraph later he’s the guy holding the line against a congressional pork fest. And a paragraph after that it’s Congress that wants to cut back.
Weird. I have no idea what’s going on. But if things go true to form, I’m sure they’ll compromise by approving everyone’s spending plans. And then tossing in some kind of sweetheart tax cut for a favored industry just to round things out.
