Curbing Spending?

I hate the GOP, but what's with this reporting?

Republicans whisked a $388 billion spending bill through Congress on Saturday, a mammoth measure that underscores the dominance of deficit politics by curbing dollars for everything from education to environmental cleanups.

The House approved the measure by a bipartisan 344-51 margin, while Senate passage was by 65-30.

Senate approval took longer because of disputes over provisions dealing with abortions and members of Congress' access to income tax returns. Leaders agreed to not send the spending package to President Bush for his signature until the tax returns issue is resolved in a separate bill, expected to be passed by the House on Wednesday.

From its tight domestic spending to the Democratic-backed provisions on overtime and other issues that were dropped, the bill is a monument to the GOP's raw power controlling the White House and Congress. An imposing monument, too: The bill and explanatory report, completed near midnight Friday, were about 14 inches tall, leaving many lawmakers baffled about its precise contents.

Oh, those big, bad Republicans! At war against schools and the environment, using raw power to force their will on us!

But then, later on:

The FBI, the Securities and Exchange Commission and NASA got healthy increases. But education grew by less than 2 percent. The Environmental Protection Agency grew by 3.5 percent.
Overall, the nine bills the measure combined were just 2 percent larger than last year's versions. When foreign aid and defense spending are omitted, the remaining domestic programs grew by around 1 percent.

So, the feds are going to spend more on education and the environment after all.

When Republicans bust the budget, like they did the last four years, they are called irresponsible. When they still increase the budget, but not by as much as they used to, they are playing "deficit politics."