Bush Administration Threatens to Veto Democratic Budget if it Doesn't "Address the Unsustainable Growth in Entitlement Spending"--What Chutzpah!!

President Bush spent considerable political capital passing the Part D Medicare drug benefit. That benefit alone increased the long-term Medicare unfunded liability by $8 trillion over the next 75 years. All of Medicare now has a $32 trillion unfunded liability.

The President used substantial political capital just after his reelection trying to change the Social Security system because he made the point it is unsustainable in its present structure. Social Security has a $4 trillion long-term unfunded liability--half what President Bush just added with the Part D program.

Now he is telling the Democratic Congress he is going to veto their budget if they don't show some restraint and get the entitlement programs--like Medicare--under control!

His Budget Director in a May 11 letter to Congressional leaders: "I will recommend the president veto any appropriations bill that that exceeds his request until Congress demonstrates a sustainable path that keeps discretionary spending within the president's top line of $933 billion."

First, I can't agree more that we need to get entitlement programs under control--and we need to do it with real reform of the entire health care system.

But for this President to now act like he's a symbol of budget discipline when he and his Republican Congress spent the last six years spending like "drunken sailors" (the federal debt increased by $3 trillion during this period) is the ultimate in chutzpah.

Earlier post: Part D Was “Financially Irresponsible”—The Medicare Part D Drug Plan Liability is Twice That of the Social Security System!