THE BUSH SPENDING SPREE:

That's not hyperbole. It's reality. Veronique de Rugy, that flaming leftist from AEI, spells out the appalling Bush record here. Money quote:

Today, we know that compassionate conservatism is really just big government and changing the tone means his veto pen is buried under the ground. The last four years, total spending has risen 33 percent - a figure larger than Clinton's two terms combined. Adjusted for inflation, one would have to go back to Lyndon Johnson to find a larger increase. Moreover, real discretionary spending increases in FY2002, FY2003, FY2004 and FY2005 are 4 of the 10 biggest annual increases in the last 40 years.

But, as the president constantly tells us, he believes in "spending restraint." And he doesn't condone torture. And the Iraq insurgency is in its "last throes."