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"President Bush has pledged to do whatever it takes to rebuild the lives and communities devastated by Hurricane Katrina. This pledge comes with a price tag. To deliver this kind of aid, Congress and the President must set priorities and make sacrifices and trade-offs to pay for it. Offsetting the cost of rebuilding is all the more important because the rebuilding effort follows a 33 percent expansion of the federal government since 2001, a period that saw:

* The 2001 No Child Behind Act, the most expensive education bill in American history, which led to a 100 percent increase in education spending;
* The 2002 Farm Security and Rural Investment Act, the most expensive farm bill in American history;
* The 2003 Medicare Modernization Act, the most expensive Great Society expansion in history;
* A war in and the rebuilding of Iraq that, while justified, could cost between $300 and $600 billion, in total;
* International spending leap 94 percent;
* Housing and Commerce spending surge 86 percent;
* Community and regional development spending jump 71 percent;
* Health research spending increase 61 percent;
* Veterans’ spending increase 51 percent; and
* The number of annual pork projects leap from 6,000 to 14,000.

http://www.heritage.org/Research/Budget/wm844.cfm

Please note - the heritage foundation is not in favor of gay marriage either.

I'm not so sure of the points you made. You yourself said the war in Iraq was justified, and the healthy increase in the V.A. budget did NOT even keep the V.A. level with previous years because of huge increases in disabled vets, non-disabled vets care, aging Korean and Vietnam War veterans, skyrocketing health expenses like prescription drugs, modern equipment, salary increases for skilled medical personnel, etc.

Also, a great part of the increase in government size and budget was for required national security purposes like Homeland Security, the integration of communications and liaison between the many law enforcement agencies, new security equipment, etc. If memory serves correct, Pres. Bush was against federalizing the airport screeners, but Congress and strong national consensus pretty much forced him to sign on.

FEMA too, has been modernized and expanded, mostly due to 9/11 and the very realistic concern of future attacks. The military budget itslef has been greatly increased since 9-11 also, not just for Iraq, Afghanistan and the Balkans, but for general equipment technology upgrades.

Still, I do think the President is too free with spending and tends to overlook American citizens' needs in favor of helping out foreign nations and illegal immigrants. This was evidenced when he forgave the forty billion dollar debt with Africa and almost simultaneously signed a bill that made it harder for AMERICANS to get out of debt, (the new bankruptcy laws). The money spent on programs and benefits for illegal aliens is another outrage, as is the entire modern immigration policy.

In any case, it's still a gross exaggeration to call the President's extravagance 'socialism'.