President Kennedy used to tell aides that anything bad that happened would always be their fault but that he would always take the credit for anything good.

The Bush administration followed that same policy this when it released its midsession review of the budget.  In his remarks at the press conference when the midsession review was release on Monday, Office of Management and Budget Director Jim Nussle very carefully talked about the "bipartisan growth package" that increased the deficit so much this year and that "Democrats are lining up to bust through the President's budget...seeking to add billions in extra spending to the regular appropriations bills, which will drive up the deficit even further."  His statement shows clearly that the Bush administration is following the Kennedy plan with absolute precision: there is no indication that it feels any responsibility for the miserable fiscal situation it is leaving the country.

There is also absolutely no indication that the White House understands in any way that this year's deficit is not just the result of things that have happened the past few months,.  Nussle's statement indicates that had it not been for the need to deal with the economic slowdown, all would be well in the budget world.

That's just plain silly.  The policies put in place in the first seven years of the Bush administration -- with the president's full and active support, encouragement, and insistence -- have more to do with the current fiscal situation than anything that has happened since this past January.  There are many, but the most important are:

• The tax cuts enacted in 2001 and 2003
• The more than $500 billion spent on activities in Iraq and Afghanistan
• Medicare Part D
• The big increases in the national debt and corresponding increases in annual interest payments

All of these dwarf the amount that will be spent in the "bipartisan growth package."

The silliness continued with Nussle saying to reporters:

"I'm quite sure that there will be people who criticize this report, they'll criticize the President, or they'll probably try and just focus attention on the big size of the numbers"

EXCUSE ME, THIS IS THE MIDSESSION REVIEW OF THE BUDGET.  IT'S AN UPDATE OF THE NUMBERS.  WE'RE SUPPOSED TO FOCUS ON THE NUMBERS.  AND THE NUMBERS ARE IN FACT BIG.

Nussle then went on to say:

"And I hope that if they do that you will ask them to present a realistic and detailed budget plan, or at least inform the taxpayers of this country when such a plan will be enacted into law."

Did someone forget to tell the OMB director that Congress has already adopted a budget this year?  And that it adopted one last year?

What does Congress passing a budget have to do with the administration's midsession review anyway?

Coming next: Just Plain Wrong.