Another Bush veto

After waiting almost six years to exercise his veto power, President Bush has hit his stride. On Tuesday, he refused to sign a health and education appropriations bill, arguing it contained "some unnecessary spending."

It was Mr. Bush's seventh veto -- and comes less than week after Congress overrode the president's effort to impose fiscal discipline on the pork-filled water project bill. This time, though, most Republicans have vowed to stand by the White House, which will make it difficult for congressional Democrats to position themselves as champions of earmark reform and fiscal responsibility.

"This year alone, leaders in Congress are proposing to spend $22 billion more than my budget provides," the president said. "Some of them claim this is not really much of a difference and the scary part is that they seem to mean it."

The president went on to say that Congress is acting like "a teenager with a new credit card."

Unfortunately, that's a slur on teenagers everywhere.

The education and health measure contains more than 2,000 earmarks. It lavishes taxpayer funding on programs far in excess of what the Bush administration requested and even attempts to revive at least one program that the White House sought to kill altogether.

While there is obviously a healthy dose of political posturing from both sides in the recent budget battles between the Democrats and Mr. Bush, these fights are nonetheless instructive.

Yes, Mr. Bush suited up late in the game to advance fiscal discipline. And let's keep in mind that what passes for "spending restraint" in Washington is a budget curve whose upward trajectory is lowered by a few hundredths of a degree.

But imagine the spending spree today if congressional Democrats didn't have someone telling them to slow down.

Democrats love their chances to capture the White House next November. If they do -- and they also hold Congress -- no bank account will be safe.