Presuming that it passes with the House's Medicare privatization option in it, the supplimental medication bill will be yet another example of how Bush is privitatizing, rather than socializing, federal government (e.g. Bush's move to put more than 400,000 federal job positions up for competitive bids, Bush's proposal to privatize Social Security, Bush's move to abolish the federal "fair wage" standard for contractors, etc.).
Bush is no Revolutionary. He is an Incrementalist. What he delivers, and deliver he does, is through baby steps.
Sure, he gives the Left's causes more funding. Sure, he spends too much.
But what do we get from such spending?
Well, the Left gets a bigger Educational monstrosity, and the Right gets the ability to fire bad teachers, test teachers, and demand that schools meet minimum standards (e.g. being able to read before you can graduate high school), as well as the ability to finally shut down failing local schools such as those found in inner cities.
Sure, the Left gets money for AIDS, and the Right gets full funding for our military, for our Intelligence Agencies, and for the actual construction of and implementation of our Alaskan ABM system.
An ideologue can point to what Bush gives up in his negotiations and dealings, and make a pretty strong case that Bush is spending us into oblivion and that Bush is helping the Left...but only if said ideologue is willing to deliberately ignore what it is that Bush is winning for us with those concessions.
You want to claim that Bush is spending too much? Fine. You'll get no argument from me on that point.
Just don't pretend that Bush isn't getting anything for all of that spending.
More than 125 federal judges have been approved for Bush. Bush has repealed the dividend double tax, killed the estate tax, and reduced federal income taxes so much that now a family of four earning $40,000 per year only pays a net sum of fourty-five Dollars in federal income taxes.
Private school choice vouchers are now on deck, something that will single-handedly destroy the publci school teachers' unions.
Bush will be signing a BAN on partial birth abortion this fall (already passed in both the House and Senate, needs only to be rectified between the two chambers).
Hussein is out of power in Iraq. The Taliban no longer control Afghanistan. Islamic Madrassah schools are no longer being freely encouraged to train terrorists throughout the Muslim world. Iran and Syria now fear to give overt aid to Palestinian terrorists in Israel.
Frankly, history books will express complete amazement at all that Bush was able to accomplish with a divided Congress and nation.
Was he able to do it all ideally, without yielding anything to the Left? Of course not. This is not an ideal world.
But that fact is hardly Bush's fault.