How Much?!?

Conservatism (at least the financial kind) must truly be dead in the Republican party when they're celebrating only being $420 million in debt rather than $520 million. This is insane. We must realize that the WOT will affect our spending, but that can't translate to carte blanche for the President. I remember in 2001 when I thought that a Republican President and a Republican Congress couldn't be bad for the economy. Surely, the balanced budget forced upon Clinton by the Republican congress in '94 would continue and prosperous days would follow. Instead, we've gotten record spending from the most conservative administration and a very conservative Congress.



Have the Republicans truly given up fiscal conservatism? It seems that the liberals are coming out much stronger on this issue now. Of course, their arguments are flawed. Bill Clinton would not have acted as he had without a hostile Congress. But at least they're beginning to see the light of smaller government and fiscal responsibility. It's just a shame that the Republicans now seem to be loosing sight of those goals that they have fought so long for. Perhaps it is a result of the monopoly of power that they now enjoy. It's easy to want to spend money when you control everything. I wonder how the dynamic will change if Kerry wins the election or if Democrats take over one or the other of the branches of Congress. Perhaps we can get back to responsible financial policy.