President Bush deserves a round of applause for exercising fiscal restraint this week. Just yesterday he publicly rebuffed Rep. John Thune's (R-SD) efforts to woo voters with federal drought aid in the midst of his heated Senate race, insisting that the $190 billion farm bill already includes emergency aid provisions. Earlier in the week the President rejected $5.1 billion in purported emergency spending for national security, sending an explicit message to Congress to curtail excessive spending.

Amidst the news that the economy is still struggling and large deficits are back for years to come, Congress and the President are preparing for upcoming voter scrutiny at the ballot box by playing the blame game over the nation's fiscal woes. President Bush claims that our return to deficits is the result of the recession and spending on the war on terrorism. But, he has signed numerous bloated spending bills into law and has yet to acknowledge the role that his $1.35 trillion tax cut has played in destroying the surplus. In fact, the President is pushing to make permanent parts of the tax cut that will cost the nation trillions of dollars in the long term.

Meanwhile, Congress is deflecting responsibility for enacting outrageously expensive, pork-laden legislation by claiming that they were merely following the President's cue and meeting the obligations that they have to their voters. Congressional Democrats conveniently overlook their spending excesses and point their fingers at the President's tax cut.

Only about $1 billion of the $5.1 billion emergency spending measure was designated for priorities that could be considered an emergency and related to national security. The remaining $4.1 billion included in the bill is merely an example of how Congress has no shame when taking advantage of the additional funding needs for national security in response to Sept. 11.

Indeed, security has become the biggest buzzword in Washington. By capitalizing on the nation's patriotic generosity, just about any program can be justified in the name of security. The ridiculous example being cited by the Bush administration is $2 million in to construct a new facility to house the Smithsonian's insect specimens which are currently stored in alcohol at a building on the national mall.

The President and Congress need to work together to prioritize spending in a way that will provide for both national and fiscal security. Although the President was right to deny funding for programs that were neither emergency nor related to national security, his rejection of $5.1 billion amounts to a gentle slap on the wrist. A real sign of his sincerity will come from the tip of a veto pen. If the good of the economy is truly the administration's priority, taxpayers deserve more than a symbolic gesture.