Columnist Donald Lambro reports that John Cogan, a budget analyst at the Hoover Institution, is helping President Bush prepare his budget plan. You should know that Cogan helped draft Bush's tax plan. This is significant because it shows that Bush is using an integrated approach to fiscal policy, giving equal weight to taxing and spending concerns. As further evidence of his emphasis on spending, Bush is trying to rein in pork-barrel spending, admittedly a bipartisan sin. He is also making some conservatives nervous by temporarily delaying fulfillment of his promise to rebuild the military.
Help is still on the way.
This directly led to major Republican losses in the 1982-midterm congressional elections. Bush grasps that a sluggish economy could cause a similar loss of GOP control in 2002. Though the tax and budget battles will be taking place in Congress, the real battle will be for the hearts and minds of the people. For Democrats, this isn't about the middle class and the so-called working people. It's about regaining power, period.