Following up on the analysis noted in this previous post, Victor over at the Dead Parrot Society has posted the second part of his analysis on the Bush Administation’s record on domestic, non-defense, non-homeland security, discretionary spending. Inasmuch as the Bush Administration has come under criticism (including here) for its apparent profligacy in this area, I highly recommend reviewing Victor’s analysis, which concludes as follows:

Bush’s record on discretionary spending is not nearly as clear cut as the conventional wisdom would suggest. Bush has dramatically increased discretionary spending in certain specific areas like education. But if we are to try to glean information from his first-term record in order to predict his second term, the evidence is mixed. He isn’t as frugal as Reagan, but isn’t necessarily profligate, either. Upon examining his record in this much detail, I truly cannot say with much certainty whether a second Bush term would be fiscally conservative or whether his view of “compassionate conservatism” necessarily means more spending.
(All of this analysis, of course, ignores the elephant in the room which is the Medicare Prescription Drug bill. But again, there, I’m not sure he’ll do something like that again.)