Much has been made of the fact that the budget released today by the White House raises medical costs for veterans, guts the food stamp program, makes it more difficult for poor kids to go to college, cuts environmental spending, provides less for first responders, slashes funding for health services, etc….but I haven’t seen anyone take a step back and see how this fits into the masterplan.

Keep in mind that one of the goals of the Bush administration has been to, in the words of Grover Nordquist, “starve the beast”. As free market zealots, the more they can get the government to tighten its belt (and send that work to their buddies in the private sector), the closer they get to their utopian vision of capitalism completely free of government influence. If you think back to when Bush was elected though, there’s one little problem : the budget was balanced and we had a surplus. Needless to say, it’s hard to convince the public that we need to close the homeless shelters and let the environment fend for itself when we’ve got extra money.

What’s the best way for the Bushies to shrink the government? Use same sales pitch they’ve used for everything from Iraq to Social Security : scare the hell out of everyone with talk of a crisis. Of course the difference between the budget deficit and Social Security situations is clear. Unlike the privatization scheme, the budget deficit really is an impending crisis. One for which Bush is personally responsible. Four years ago, the budget was balanced and we were paying down the deficit, but the orgy of tax cuts, bloated spending, and the like have given an Orwellian flavor to Bush’s “responsibility era”.

Just like it’s hard to convince a healthy person to go on a diet, the Bushies were fully aware that simple math and common sense would make Americans averse to shrinking social services. So what do they do? They put the government on a four year spending binge. Tax cuts for the rich, handouts to religious groups, giveaways to the pharmaceutical industry, etc… Is it any wonder why Bush never vetoed any bills? The more they waste money, the quicker they can move onto their real goal.

Two years ago, the message was “deficits don’t matter”, but today it’s “Let’s worry about the deficit” (Yes, he really said that). Looking back at the last four years, it looks like everything is going according to plan. Now that the government has been turned into the bloated, irresponsible bureaucracy that matches their rhetoric, they’ve moved operation “starve the beast” into phase two.