I always appreciate help getting perspective on huge piles of money

This NYTimes story highlights the disingenuousness of Republicans claiming to be the party of fiscal responsibility by putting recent Republican policy choices in perspective. For example:

Calculations by the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office and other independent fiscal experts show that the $1.1 trillion cost over the next 10 years of the Medicare prescription drug program, which the Republican-controlled Congress adopted in 2003, by itself would add more to the deficit than the combined costs of the bailout, the stimulus and the health care law.

Curious

I'm curious to know whether my Republican blog brothers regard Sarah Palin's success in helping candidates get elected as a good thing for your party.

Rethug hypocrisy

Just heard a 10 second blurb on the radio from my Sen. Hutchinson complaining about dealership closings and all those poor employees that are being laid off.

Rethugs who do this exhibit blatant hypocrisy based (I suspect) upon dealers who've made contributions. I won't condemn KBH based on such a short blurb but I have my suspicions.

The proper gripe is not tweaking the plan; it is the plan.

Update: my heart goes out to anyone losing a job. My point was consistency.

Oh come on

Scooter, your party is not worthy of your support:

A member of the Republican National Committee told me Tuesday that when the RNC meets in an extraordinary special session next week, it will approve a resolution rebranding Democrats as the “Democrat Socialist Party.

I wish this was the last that was ever heard from Joe the Plumber

Joe Wurzelbacher in Christianity Today: "I've had some friends that are actually homosexual. And, I mean, they know where I stand, and they know that I wouldn't have them anywhere near my children."

Yes, Joe, that's exactly right. There are no heterosexual pedophiles. And all homosexuals are pedophiles.

Chicken Little wing

Here's an amusing mockery of the Chicken Little wing of the Republican party/talking heads:

I think you are understating Obama’s threat to America. John Hawkins makes it clear- Obama is Julius Caesar and he will lead America to ruin! From single handily running all the empire’s major companies and banks, to hating Christians, to the comment at the end about releasing the zoo animals. To do what? Eat the Christians? Mark my words- your children’s children will be Muslims pouring Paul Newman’s spicy Obama dressing on their arugula salads.

I've taken several weeks off from watching/reading any news, so I've got nothing substantive to contribute. There's just too much going on to stay on top of it all. I got overwhelmed and gave up. Will get back to paying attention.

Fear of the [Bush] White House?

From Noonan’s column today:

Republicans are also up against themselves. On Capitol Hill they are up against the Bush era, when through fear of the White House or mindless opportunism they supported things they now decry. It will take them a while to seem credible again. The smarter of them know this. They're waiting for time to pass and a new cliché about them to take hold. Old cliché: "They're not a credible alternative." Future cliché they hope for: "They've learned a lot in the wilderness."

I get the point though I’m not sure how much of it was "fear." Certainly there was plenty of mindless opportunism but fear? Nobody seemed to [update: I'm a dope: too] scared of the White House when the attempt was made to touch the third rail. I’d like to think some of the silence on the things now decried was due to support of a wartime president.

Specter leaving Rethugs

This is really bad for my ilk. Rationed healthcare here we come.

Update: can McCain be far behind?

Update II: Ace reminds me that Phil Gramm at least had the decency to resign his Democrat congressional seat before running as a Rethug. My law school roommate (a big Dem.) was furious at the time. Whatever one thinks of Gramm, that seems the more honorable way to do it since those who elected you did so at least in part due to your party affiliation. From Wiki:

In 1976, Gramm unsuccessfully challenged Texas Democratic Senator Lloyd M. Bentsen, in the party's senatorial primary. Then in 1978 Gramm successfully ran as a Democrat for Representative from Texas's 6th congressional district. He was reelected to his House seat as a Democrat in 1980, and again in 1982.

Following his 1982 reelection, Gramm resigned his House seat on January 5, 1983, forcing a mid-term special election. Gramm ran in that election on February 12, 1983 to fill the vacancy that he had created, but as a Republican. Winning, he became the first Republican to represent the district since its creation. After he left the House the seat was retained for the Republican party by Joe Barton.

Why do they hate our country?

Gail Collins does a good job today of pointing out the nauseating hypocrisy of those who are now waving secession flags but who, during Bush's administration, insisted that those who objected to his policies hated their country. She also notes the weirdness of the teabaggers complaints about taxation when the lion's share of taxes has been lowered. (I know, I know; it'll all have to be paid for later; but where were the teabaggers while the Rethugs dramatically increased the deficit and debt?)