Bush and Fiscal Conservatism? Could Anyone Handle That?

You know you have things bad when Butler University Economics Profs start taking you behind the woodshed. Bush should renew belief in smaller government

The most relevant part tells us:

Bush could of course surprise and cut spending significantly, but that seems as unlikely as tax increases. As the libertarian Cato Institute has shown, the Bush administration has raised discretionary spending by more than any administration in recent memory. Of course, some of the new spending is due to homeland security and the war in Iraq. But in fact, every area of discretionary spending has risen. The number of pork projects that Congress has funded, and Bush has approved, has grown annually.

Bush seems well on his way towards becoming a new Nixon. The Democrats never had it so good as when they had good ol' Dick doing their work for them. For four years we've seen Bush engage in Keynesian economics up the yin-yang. Hell, he's even dabbled in some old fashioned Smoot-Hawley style protectionism from time to time. Fiscal conservatives must find themselves yearning for the days of Bill Clinton, the last free trade, free market president this country might ever have.