Eleven days after Congress at last ap-proved a budget for the current fiscal year, which began in October, George Bush presented Congress with a $2.4 trillion budget for the next. Think of it as a campaign brochure, complete with glossy pictures of the president bringing relief to the elderly, restoring the environment and exhorting the young. As a way to unveil the three main themes of Mr Bush's reelection strategy―fighting the war on terror, protecting the "homeland" and getting the credit for a recovering economy-the brochure is a tour de force. As an exercise in fiscal responsibility, it is a charade.
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