Nothing new on the budget front, or so it seems at first glance. President Trump submitted to Congress a $4.7 trillion budget for the 2020 fiscal year, which begins on Oct. 1 of this year. That’s almost 8 percent more than he asked for in his last budget. Congress issued its traditional statement, pronouncing the budget DOA, dead on arrival. Both sides having laid out their stalls, negotiations — the third step in the budget process — follow between the president and his critics, with words such as “another government shutdown” and “bankruptcy” being bandied about.

Trump wants to spend more to defend the nation, and the Democrats want to spend more on domestic programs. Trump is talking of another tax cut, the Democrats of tax increases, but only on the rich, who couldn’t cover the cost of both parties’ wishes if they surrendered their entire incomes to the cause. Which they won’t, of course, instead preferring to ease their guilt by calling for some modest increases in their tax load while readying an army of consultants to keep their total burden at acceptable levels.