Less Kumbaya, More Do the Right Thing

Surprised?

President Bush, escalating his budget battle with Congress, on Tuesday vetoed a spending measure for health and education programs prized by congressional Democrats.

He also signed a big increase in the Pentagon's non-war budget although the White House complained it contained "some unnecessary spending."

The president's action was announced on Air Force One as Bush flew to New Albany, Ind., on the Ohio River across from Louisville, Ky., for a speech criticizing the Democratic-led Congress on its budget priorities.

In excerpts of his remarks released in advance by the White House, Bush hammered Democrats for what he called a tax-and-spend philosophy:

You are the Congress, he is one man. Congress legislates and the President executes. I learned this when I was 8, yet our lawmakers and chattering classes in Washington still can't come to grips with this.

I'm not even going to get into the irony of Bush pooh-poohing a tax-and-spend philosophy. Today, at least, irony is back in the grave.