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.

Silly Democrats

The media are not your friends.

"It's transactional -- you have to see what it brings," Mr. Frank said. "But Hubert Humphrey once said, 'Whenever I get cute, I blow it.' That's the same thing I'm saying: if you try to be too political there's a backlash."

That backlash is evident: Congress's approval rating has fallen from 31% in March to 19% this month in the latest Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll.

A year after returning to power, House Democrats are at a crossroads. The party's early agenda -- tougher ethics rules, a minimum-wage increase and more aid for college students -- is largely in place. To go further, the majority must overcome not just presidential vetoes but the often-crippling partisan bitterness left from 12 years under Republican rule.

Congress' approval rating has fallen not because of partisan bitterness, but because it's not standing up to Bush enough. People want Democrats to push progressive values and policies, not this mush-centrist-kumbaya that Washington keeps egging on. Democrats have so far failed to deliver on Iraq, the biggest issue of the day (even though the media selectively chooses to ignore it). That is why Congress' ratings are in the shitter.

Democrats were elected to lead. They have yet to live up to that mandate.