The next president will inherit a huge budget mess  Perhaps it's
a good thing that Sens. John McCain, Hillary Rodham Clinton and
Barack Obama are preoccupied with running for president because
if they were involved in the budget debate back in Washington
they might decide they don't want the job.  This week the House
and Senate take up the budget resolutions that set the spending
guidelines for the 12 appropriations bills that fund next year's
government operations, the spending on entitlement programs like
Medicare and the taxes needed to pay for them.  Both the House
and Senate Democratic plans, like President Bush's and the
Republicans' alternatives, project deficits turning into
surpluses in 2012 and 2013. On paper, this is a plausible goal;
politically, it's probably impossible and almost certainly so if
the economy goes -- or is already -- in recession. And none of
the plans faces up to the possible long-term costs of Iraq and
Afghanistan.  The Democrats get to where they're going by
allowing Bush's tax