That old budget song

Putting President Bush in charge of recommending another federal budget is like giving the car keys to a teenager who has 12 points on his license and is awaiting court dates on five accidents. And for those who expected the worst, the president's proposed budget for fiscal 2009 (beginning Oct. 1) does not disappoint.

Once again, the president show himself in a state of disconnection from the people he is supposed to serve. Domestic programs in his $3.1 trillion budget are cut, from those helping the elderly to environmental programs to education. The Pentagon, meanwhile, gets a nice boost -- granted, there is Bush's war in Iraq to fight, after all. And with tax cuts for wealthy Americans an ongoing priority, the budget contains a hearty deficit, though Bush still claims the budget would be balanced by 2012. Democrats answer that claim by saying the president is virtually ignoring the cost of the war in Iraq and simply doing some fancy figuring footwork.

The White House knows, of course, that a Congress run by Democrats doesn't have to pay much attention to the president's proposals. Perhaps Bush's advisers simply figured, why go to the trouble of worrying about domestic programs or Social Security and Medicare now? Just go ahead and lay out a budget that reflects the same misguided priorities of the past and let the Democrats figure it out.

If President Bush ever will wonder why his legacy is paltry, it's budgets like this one that suggest the answers.