The good news and bad news about the budget

President Obama's $3.55 trillion budget is like a dead deer on the side of the road being picked apart by a flock of vultures.

As we speak, a battalion of Washington lobbyists, Wall Street analysts, think tank experts, congressional staffers, and people who find CSPAN entertaining are picking apart the spending plan, line item by line item. It's a process that's as exciting as it sounds.

At least one budget watchdog thinks Obama is doing the right thing. Robert Greenstein of the Center for Budget and Policy Priorities called it "a bold and and courageous proposal to make progress in restoring fiscal discipline while addressing two central problems of our time - a broken health care system and the threat of catastrophic global warming - and other national needs."