Bill's world.(Knight Ridder Newspapers)

March is Mother Nature's way of doing stretching exercises. If she went from February straight to April, she'd pull several muscles.

Mr. Bush has proposed a $1.96 trillion federal budget. It's hard even to write trillion without feeling a nervous fluttering inside.

"President Bush deserves a great deal of credit," says Dick Cheney. Careful. Uncle Sam got a lot of credit and now he's deep in debt.

"America must become more energy-independent," Mr. Bush says. Would it help to have a battery-operated Congress?

"Too many citizens," says Mr. Bush, "have cause to doubt our nation's justice." And, when the Supreme Court gets into politics, our nation's justices.

"We can make Americans proud of their government," the president says. How? Sell T-shirts showing Uncle Sam and the words, "Sam, Youda Man"?

Mr. Bush has asked Congress to join him "in standing firmly on the side of the people." Which at least is better than standing on their necks.