Bush Budget: Last Gasp of Conservative Failure

When President released his budget today, it once again showed the limits of the conservative message.

Like many conservative leaders, Bush knows he can't rally the public by pledging to deny funds for goals deemed important by the voters, like health care, energy independence and education.

That's why in every State of the Union, Bush talks a liberal game when it comes to domestic priorities.

But then comes the obligation to propose a budget, and he has no choice but to supplant the phony compassionate rhetoric with cruel conservative numbers.

In our State of the Union -- By The Numbers, we noted past empty pledges to make health care, clean energy and education more affordable and accessible.

And once again, we have a Bush budget that fails to adequately fund any of Bush's own stated priorities.

If you want to see the paltry numbers, check out TomPaine.com, the Center for Budget and Policy Priorities, and Business Week's Economics Unbound.

Thankfully, we don't have to get overly concerned about the specifics this time.

The voters threw out the last Congress because they were sick and tired of budgets just like this one. And with the new Congress, this budget proposal is dead on arrival.

But the Bush budget is another reminder of the failure of conservatism, and the inability for conservative leaders to lead with straight talk.

Now it's time for Congress to show what a progressive budget looks like.

Views expressed on this page are those of the authors and not necessarily those of Campaign for America's Future or Institute for America's Future