[PsyOp]

Bush, for example, turns out to be the most fiscally liberal president since Johnson, and yet people who call themselves "conservatives" love him while those who call themselves "liberals" hate him.

Spending X or Y amount does not make one liberal or conservative. What the dollars are spent on does. Welfare vs. defense for example.

The President who spends twice as much on defense as the one who spends on welfare is the conservative. Why? Because that's what the constitution says it should be spent on, when neccesary.

Most of the money Bush has spent has been on national security. That makes him a conservative in my book, as opposed to Clinton, who saved money by allowing our national defense to languish and failed in his constitutional duty to provide for the common defense.

[massadvj]

The President who spends twice as much on defense as the one who spends on welfare is the conservative

I'm not arguing with Bush's defense spending. Here is the domestic agenda:

The biggest farm subsidy bill in US history
The biggest increase in federal spending toward education in US history
The biggest new entitlement (prescription drugs) since Johnson
Three extensions of unemployment benefits
Inreases in the rate of discretionary, non-defense spending that far exceed the rate of inflation and economic growth combined

Could Gore have done more than this had he been elected with a Republican Congress? I think not.