What conservatives?

I don't know how many times E.J. Dionne has been praised on this blog--but whatever the number is, it's not enough. This morning he writes about the budget about to be voted on in the House of Representatives--one which "balances the budget on the backs of the poor", as our fair president spoke against back when he was still trying to get people to vote for him.

As Dionne says, this budget is terrible for many reasons--because it takes from the poor (Medicaid recipients) to give to the rich (health insurance companies), because it was worked out in some backroom deal behind the backs of the conference committee (now a regular practice in the Republican-controlled Congress), but--most bafflingly in this era of supposed conservative control of government--because it continues to perpetuate our growing budget deficit.

Just last weekend I heard the president complaining about Democrats who want to "tax and spend". Besides the fact that that label grew old about fifteen years ago, it provides the perfect opening for Democrats. In order to win elections, you've got to have some crossover into the other person's territory, and the perfect issue for Democrats to steal from Republicans is fiscal responsibility. The one genuine good conservatives are supposed to bring to government is the ability to manage a budget responsibly, and yet under Republican control our annual budget has never been balanced and our national debt has steadily increased--this after a Democrat worked so hard to bring our fiscal situation under control. Repeat after me, Democrats: what's even worse than a "tax and spend liberal" is a "spend and spend" (suggestions welcome on a catchier alternative title than this one!) right-winger hijacking the label of 'conservative'. Republicans are no longer the party of fiscal responsibility. Sing it from the rooftops, and we'll have control of Congress back in January 2007.

Oh, yes--and be sure to contact your Congressional representative TODAY to register your opinion on this budget bill. If you're not sure who it is, look it up at www.congress.org.