What’s a Few Billion Amongst Friends (or Appropriators)?

Congress has taken a commercial break, but stay tuned: The big finale’s still ahead, and with the current crop of big-government liberals at the helm, it’s sure to be a big-budget spectacle. After legislators return, the major fight will be over appropriations — what’s politely referred to as "discretionary" spending. President Bush has threatened to veto any appropriations bill that exceeds his request. Currently, eight of the twelve bills offered by the House meet that criteria. And the bills aren’t just a little bit over: They’ve exceeded the White House’s requests by a jaw-dropping $23 billion. That’s more than the entire GDP of 78 of the world’s countries.

But hey, when liberals dream up budgets, that’s small potatoes. A few billion here, a few billion there… why quibble? And, as in this post at Real Clear Politics, they even try to pass off their plans as "fiscally responsible." So sure. Why not? The Labor-HHS bill, just to take one example, is only $7 billion more than what’s being spent right now. Sounds "fiscally responsible" to me!