GOP is in 'deep funk' over Bush spending
- Carolyn Lochhead, Chronicle Washington Bureau
Sunday, March 12, 2006

Washington -- The Republican rebellion that President Bush smacked
into with the Dubai ports deal was the tip of an iceberg of Republican
discontent that is much deeper and more dangerous to the White House
than a talk radio tempest over Arabs running U.S. ports.

A Republican pushback on Capitol Hill and smoldering conservative
dissatisfaction have already killed not just the ports deal but key
elements of Bush's domestic agenda, and threaten GOP control of
Congress if unhappy conservatives sit out the November midterm
elections.

The apostasy in some quarters runs to heretofore unthinkable depths.

"If I had a choice and Bush were running today against (Democratic
President) Bill Clinton, I'd vote for Bill Clinton," said Bruce
Bartlett, a former Reagan administration Treasury Department official
whose book, "Impostor: How George Bush Bankrupted America and Betrayed
the Reagan Legacy," is making the rounds of conservative think tanks
and talk shows. "He was clearly a much better president in a great
many ways that matter to me."...

Although the Iraq war is hurting Bush with all voters, the deeper
conservative discontent is with the spectacular growth of spending
during the last five years...

Moving to stanch the damage, Bush called last week for Congress to
grant him a line-item veto to prevent members from redirecting money
in spending bills to their pet projects, a practice known as
earmarking that has achieved notoriety under the GOP. The
Congressional Research Service counted 15,877 earmarks in 2005, almost
four times as many as in 1994, when Democrats last held a House
majority.

What Bush didn't say is that he already has the power to eliminate 95
percent of these earmarks.

A Congressional Research Service report requested by Rep. Jeff Flake,
R-Ariz. and Sen. Jim DeMint, R-S.C., found that most earmarks are
slipped into committee reports but are not part of the legislation and
not legally binding.

"The president could instruct the federal agencies tomorrow not to
fund any of them," Flake said. "The president has a lot more authority
and control than he's willing to admit right now, and we wish he'd use
it. That's something he could do right now, and it would engender just
a ton of support among Republicans everywhere, and frankly Democrats.

"The indoor rain forest in Iowa -- there are things that are just as
ugly as the bridge to nowhere," Flake said, referring to a pair of
highly criticized earmarks. "He could simply instruct the agency,
'Don't fund that.' Believe me, I've had discussions. We've recommended
it. We just can't get him to do it."...

Conservatives contend Bush has never resisted spending, starting with
the gigantic farm bill in 2001 and continuing with his failure to veto
a single bill. Bush is the longest-serving president to do so since
John Quincy Adams in 1829...

Bartlett argues that government's growth under Bush will eventually
force his tax cuts to be rolled back and leave conservatives with the
worst of both worlds.

Last week, Senate Republicans unceremoniously ditched Bush's call to
trim $65 billion in entitlement spending. Senate Finance Committee
Chairman Charles Grassley of Iowa also questioned the need for more
health care tax breaks -- including the health savings account
expansion that Bush highlighted in his State of the Union address.

White House handling of the Dubai ports deal also crystallized growing
doubt among Republicans about what had been one of Bush's strong
suits: competence. The ports deal added to the growing list of what
many see as White House failures in planning for the Iraq occupation,
pushing Social Security reform and responding to Hurricane Katrina...

While Republicans are starting to run away from Bush for the midterms,
what may be more telling for the future of the party is the stance of
Republican presidential contenders in 2008.

"In 1988, all Republicans ran as heirs to (President Ronald) Reagan,"
said Marshall Wittman, a former aide to Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz.
"It's becoming increasingly unlikely that candidates in 2008 will be
running as heirs to Bush."

GOP is in 'deep funk' over Bush spending
- Carolyn Lochhead, Chronicle Washington Bureau
Sunday, March 12, 2006

Washington -- The Republican rebellion that President Bush smacked
into with the Dubai ports deal was the tip of an iceberg of Republican
discontent that is much deeper and more dangerous to the White House
than a talk radio tempest over Arabs running U.S. ports.

A Republican pushback on Capitol Hill and smoldering conservative
dissatisfaction have already killed not just the ports deal but key
elements of Bush's domestic agenda, and threaten GOP control of
Congress if unhappy conservatives sit out the November midterm
elections.

The apostasy in some quarters runs to heretofore unthinkable depths.

"If I had a choice and Bush were running today against (Democratic
President) Bill Clinton, I'd vote for Bill Clinton," said Bruce
Bartlett, a former Reagan administration Treasury Department official
whose book, "Impostor: How George Bush Bankrupted America and Betrayed
the Reagan Legacy," is making the rounds of conservative think tanks
and talk shows. "He was clearly a much better president in a great
many ways that matter to me."...

Although the Iraq war is hurting Bush with all voters, the deeper
conservative discontent is with the spectacular growth of spending
during the last five years...

Moving to stanch the damage, Bush called last week for Congress to
grant him a line-item veto to prevent members from redirecting money
in spending bills to their pet projects, a practice known as
earmarking that has achieved notoriety under the GOP. The
Congressional Research Service counted 15,877 earmarks in 2005, almost
four times as many as in 1994, when Democrats last held a House
majority.

What Bush didn't say is that he already has the power to eliminate 95
percent of these earmarks.

A Congressional Research Service report requested by Rep. Jeff Flake,
R-Ariz. and Sen. Jim DeMint, R-S.C., found that most earmarks are
slipped into committee reports but are not part of the legislation and
not legally binding.

"The president could instruct the federal agencies tomorrow not to
fund any of them," Flake said. "The president has a lot more authority
and control than he's willing to admit right now, and we wish he'd use
it. That's something he could do right now, and it would engender just
a ton of support among Republicans everywhere, and frankly Democrats.

"The indoor rain forest in Iowa -- there are things that are just as
ugly as the bridge to nowhere," Flake said, referring to a pair of
highly criticized earmarks. "He could simply instruct the agency,
'Don't fund that.' Believe me, I've had discussions. We've recommended
it. We just can't get him to do it."...

Conservatives contend Bush has never resisted spending, starting with
the gigantic farm bill in 2001 and continuing with his failure to veto
a single bill. Bush is the longest-serving president to do so since
John Quincy Adams in 1829...

Bartlett argues that government's growth under Bush will eventually
force his tax cuts to be rolled back and leave conservatives with the
worst of both worlds.

Last week, Senate Republicans unceremoniously ditched Bush's call to
trim $65 billion in entitlement spending. Senate Finance Committee
Chairman Charles Grassley of Iowa also questioned the need for more
health care tax breaks -- including the health savings account
expansion that Bush highlighted in his State of the Union address.

White House handling of the Dubai ports deal also crystallized growing
doubt among Republicans about what had been one of Bush's strong
suits: competence. The ports deal added to the growing list of what
many see as White House failures in planning for the Iraq occupation,
pushing Social Security reform and responding to Hurricane Katrina...

While Republicans are starting to run away from Bush for the midterms,
what may be more telling for the future of the party is the stance of
Republican presidential contenders in 2008.

"In 1988, all Republicans ran as heirs to (President Ronald) Reagan,"
said Marshall Wittman, a former aide to Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz.
"It's becoming increasingly unlikely that candidates in 2008 will be
running as heirs to Bush."