Bush shooting Republicans in the foot

The Bush budget is of course horrible, as we've described. It is top heavy - giving money to privatize social security (thanks to the heads up by TPM), fight our useless war, spend 440 billion on the military - while denying basic human needs. For example, cutting Medicare, Medicaid, student loans, all on top of the $39 billion he's about to sign off on.

Politically though, this is a weapon for liberals. This galvanizes them, and offers a clear divide on where Republicans stand and where Democrats stand. And of course, it hurts the Republican party when moderates like Arlen Specter and Olympia Snowe come out and attack the budget. All students and their parents will find fault with the Republicans on this budget. Seniors will be against his Medicare/Medicaid and social security plans. It is set up to anger most Americans. And this all comes before the midterm elections. It is terrible that millions will have to suffer through ever worsening conditions brought on by Bush's budgets, but the worse it gets, the closer we are to the turning point.

Already, Republicans have made it very public that they will not pursue any very public radical actions this year. They want to move to the center a little to protect Republicans up for reelection. This represents a victory. We even have Republican Heather Wilson calling for a full investigation into the illegal spying scandal. I love to watch the Republicans crumble, but we also need to get a strong force pushing Democrats into office. In state elections in Missouri, this is exactly what happened. In typically very conservative counties, Democrats are gaining seats. These counties are needed for Republicans to get reelected to the Senate, to offset highly Democratic areas. The tides are turning, hopefully they'll push us to where we want to be this November. And Bush is only stirring more trouble for his party.