As liberals grapple with the reality that the nation’s welfare state is financially unsustainable, they’ve renewed the myth that all would be swell if President Bush hadn’t squandered the surpluses that were projected a decade ago. This argument received a boost over the weekend with an article by the Washington Post’s Lori Montgomery, who wrote: “The nation’s unnerving descent into debt began a decade ago with a choice, not a crisis.”

The reality is a bit more complicated.