We're All in the Same Bloat

Wall Street Journal ^ | 20 SEP 05 | BRENDAN MINITER

[dts32041]

"After 11 years of Republican majority, we pared it down pretty good. I am ready to declare ongoing victory. It is still a process."--House Majority Leader Tom DeLay on the federal budget

In the presidential campaign last year, Democrats were said to be counting on some misfortune--terrorists attacking on American soil, the Iraq War taking a turn for the worse, the economy going south--to help them beat George W. Bush. That didn't happen, of course. But now disaster has struck, and it's becoming increasingly clear that Democrats are better off for it. In ripping through the Gulf Coast, Hurricane Katrina has peeled back the lid on Republican rule and many Americans aren't happy with what they see.

...what has the GOP done lately? In many cases Republicans have ramped up spending and then bragged about it.

What we're seeing in the wake of Katrina is that despite all the winks and assurances to the contrary as they passed the energy and transportation bills, Republicans in Congress don't know how to control spending and are at a loss as to why they even should. That's one way to govern. But if Republicans no longer believe in smaller government, why not put the Democrats back in charge?

[dts32041]

Just some thoughts.

[sarasota]

Prepare for the naysayers!

[MNJohnnie]

Intresting how Rass is polling 50% support for the President's plan while only 27% support this authors doom and gloom whining.

[EagleUSA]

Republicans in Congress don't know how to control spending and are at a loss as to why they even should. That's one way to govern. But if Republicans no longer believe in smaller government, why not put the Democrats back in charge?
---
Something for Rove to think about as 2006/2008 approach.

[mosquitobite]

But if Republicans no longer believe in smaller government, why not put the Democrats back in charge?

[Wonder Warthog]

"But now disaster has struck, and it's becoming increasingly clear that Democrats are better off for it. In ripping through the Gulf Coast, Hurricane Katrina has peeled back the lid on Republican rule and many Americans aren't happy with what they see."

What tripe. I guess ole "Brendan Miniter" is just another knucklehead leftist. Federal performance during Katrina has surpassed the level previously set by the hurricanes that hit Florida.

Sure, there have been some problems, but that is simply due to the sheer magnitude of the area and number of people affected.

And to a large extent, people are seeing that it has been LOCAL DEMOCRAT POLITICIANS (Nagin and Blanco) who dropped the ball---not George Bush (and that DESPITE the constant drumbeat by the MSM that Katrina is "all Bush's fault").

[dts32041]

My point has been proved, did a selective edit and apparently no one read the whole article including the parts about Condi Rice.

Just goes to show most people don't use this resource effectively.

[Gatún(CraigIsaMangoTreeLawyer)]

Excellent post. Thank you.

[sarasota]

Funny how this disaster got turned away from blaming the folks in charge of both the city of NO and the state of La.

[sarasota]

I didn't read the entire article because the first paragraph set the tone of negativity. And I'm tired of it.

[Reaganghost]

There is an effective way to deal with Republican office holders that can restore the Constitution. In the days and weeks ahead, Freepers and FreeRepublic can play a pivotal role in making it happen.

Our freedoms and America will never be safe as long as a single Democrat holds elected public office, but as this article accurately points out, many Republicans have become part of the problem. Stay tuned. You are soon going to presented with a proposal that can provide the solution.

[conservativehistorian]

At the risk of being flamed, Miniter is mostly on target. The issue now is not the timing or the present efficacy of the federal response, but rather the nature and cost of the rebuilding and resettlement. The rash Republican rush to spend our money in response to MSM and Dimocrat carping will lead to recklessness and waste. How can 62 billion be approved in a blink while cutting back the wasteful Medicaid entitlement by a few percentage points over ten years requires month and months of debate.

Let's be honest, the so called 'conservative' majorities in Congress and our President have been almost as bad (maybe at most five percent better) in throwing away the people's money as would the democrats. As proof - No Child Left Behind, the gutting of the 1990s caps on Farm payments, the Transportation Bill, Medicare Part D, the establishment of the ineffective Department of Homeland Security boondoggle etc, etc.

The president has been excellent on the war on terror, judges, and most social issues, but he has not been a fiscal conservative.

Now I'll duck from incoming.

[sarasota]

Promise? (Do you have a crystal ball?)

[jveritas]

The 27% of nay sayers are the ultra left wing liberals and the "absolutist" conservatives. Notice that these two fringe groups are in total agreement about hating President Bush, the Republican Party, and attacking the President and the GOP for everything under the sun.

[AZLiberty]

Intresting how Rass is polling 50% support for the President's plan while only 27% support this authors doom and gloom whining.

Which 50 per cent? In 2008, I was expecting Hillary to run to the right of the Republican. Now Bush seems to be pursuing the opposite strategy: run to the left of the Democrats, at least on economic issues.

[Reaganghost]

Yes, I promise.

As far as the crystal ball is concerned, I feel like Cassandra. Freepers and FreeRepublic are going to be presented with a plan that I am confident can work. Whether it will be adopted and successfully executed or not is beyond the range of my particular crystal ball.

Check your freepmail for a preview.

[CharlesWayneCT]

I think his point was he selectively edited the excerpt to be as misleading as possible, and sure enough some people were misled and didn't read the article.

His point being I suppose (or at least the point I got) that if posters want to make this a useless exercise they can do so by selective and misleading edits.

Or maybe there was a different point.

I didn't read the article yet because I usually look at some comments first to see if anybody found it useful. There are hundreds of articles to read, and even I don't read that fast.

[RFEngineer]

"if Republicans no longer believe in smaller government, why not put the Democrats back in charge? "

This has been stated many times. In the end, it doesn't matter what government spends money on, because every dollar it spends makes it larger.

I used to be for limited government, but now that I see that is a quaint constitutional anachronism, I see that government will only be limited by how much it can spend (these limits have yet to materialize), to the long-term detriment of every citizens life, liberty and pursuit of happiness.

I suppose I almost feel more sorry for the poor SOB's that lend us money, because we won't be paying it back.

[sarasota]

Thanks for renewing my faith in our forum.

[inquest]

The 27% of nay sayers are the ultra left wing liberals and the "absolutist" conservatives.

"Ultra left wing liberals" are opposed to spending federal money to rebuild New Orleans? I know that denial is a powerful force, but really, try to come to terms with the fact that the ultraleftists are on your side in this particular case.