Wheels falling off

Things are starting to happen. And for the Bush administration, they're all bad.

Congress slammed Bush's proposal to cut funding for the Energy Department's weatherization assistance grants, meaning that 33,000 fewer poor families than last year would be able to insulate their homes at a time of record energy prices.

No big deal. Congress always complains about my budget proposals. They also slammed the increased fees charged to Medicare recipients, the Social Security payment cuts and the cuts in funding for education and child support enforcement, and those complaints didn't gain any traction.

Congress also expressed a desire to oversee his domestic spying program.

Nothing new there. Congress is always asking permission to exert its authority. So far, nothing Scotty can't deflect.

But then Jack Abramoff wrote in an e-mail to the editor of The Washingtonian magazine that he met George Bush almost a dozen times, that he has been invited to the ranch, and that Bush spoke to him in detail about Abramoff's children.

Jack, I thought we were friends. No problem. Scotty'll spin that one, too. He has no problem lying with a straight face.

As if that weren't enough for an embattled White House spokesman, then came the revelation that court papers, citing Scooter Libby's grand jury testimony, say the Plame leak was authorized by Libby's superiors, including one Richard Cheney.

Uh oh. That sounds serious. What to do? When in doubt, stay on message. "We're not going to comment on an ongoing investigation." Good. Maybe send Dick to give a speech over at the Heritage Foundation. Those guys understand. Better check with Karl.

Then came reports that news of the New Orleans flooding by Hurricane Katrina reached the White House before the White House claims to have learned of the disaster. Even Michael Brown is expected to give testimony confirming that.

"There is no question in my mind, that at the highest levels of the White House they understood how grave the situation was," Brown told the New York Times.

I keep telling them: I wasn't at the White House that day. I was at the ranch. I can prove it -- I cut out a newspaper article. Well, Jenna did. In case you didn't know, Texas is far from Washington.

Brownie! I let you stay on the federal payroll after you resigned, and this is how you repay me? I'll get even with you. Well, Karl will. My hands will stay clean.

As if that weren't enough vulnerable spots to protect, the U.S. trade deficit hit an all-time high for the fourth year in a row, reaching $725.8 billion, a situation that's not going to be helped by South Korea's refusal to open up its rice market to American imports.

The trade deficit shattered all-time records three other times on my watch. Nobody cares.

More importantly to the White House, it looks like Abramoff, Libby and Brownie have decided they're not going down alone. It makes one wonder what Ken Lay might say if things break bad for him at his trial.

Now, if only we had an opposition party in this country with some bone in their backs. If Democrats are ever going to climb out of their "reactive posture," now would be a good time. If a boxer let an injured opponent off the ropes as much as the Democrats do, he'd spend his days eating through a straw inserted somewhere among the metal holding his jaw together, and wondering when someone's going to answer that friggin' phone.