Dissent on the Right

George W. Bush may have met his Waterloo with conservatives over the Katrina relief proposal.  It's not just the proposal itself, but coupled with an unwillingness to reign in any government spending (such as on the highway bill), Bush is being attacked on the right for his big spending ways.  You can read Peggy Noonan on the subject here, and see Instapundit's comments here.  Contrary to the claims of the left that conservatives are lap dogs for Bush, I have been reading just this kind of criticism of "big government conservatism" since Bush entered the White House.  Politically this means Republicans must spend the next year simply trying to rally their most loyal troops, something the Democrats seems to have accomplished already.  This portends a tough election next year for the GOP.

This said, I don't have the problems with Bush's Katrina bill that other conservatives do.  For one thing, he is using the federal government to promote conservative ends, such as advocating enterprise zones and school vouchers for New Orleans.   And while conservatives carp about "pork barrel spending," which there is certainly too much of, everyone should know that the real government money is not in "pork" but in entitlements.  On this issue Saint John McCain is a hero, as he suggests revisiting the prescription drug plan.  McCain is right that this plan was a boondoggle to begin with.  Attaching it to Medicare guaranteed it would be unwieldy and expensive. Instead of paying for drugs for those who need the help, this program pays for the drugs of danged near everybody on Medicare, whether they needed the help or not.  This is why the plan is already scheduled to cost $300 billion more than originally suggested. 

I propose the Republicans offer a comprehensive plan of government spending reductions along with dropping their foolish plan to dismantle the inheritance tax.  And Bush should be out front on this.  And it might be time to dust off the old Balanced Budget Amendment.