What is it? The Republicans’ favorite lie is that they are the party of fiscal responsibility. That’s the common wisdom. That’s what we keep hearing on the TV. It’s those big spending Democrats and responsible Republicans. The only problem with this is that it is indeed a lie. One of the ways Republicans say they will slash spending is with a moratorium on earmarks. That is another lie. First of all earmarks account for only $16 billion out of $3.5 trillion. They are insignificant. More important, abolishing earmarks will not reduce the federal deficit by one penny. Once the budget is set, it’s set. That amount of money will be spent. Earmarks merely decide how that portion is spent. Without them a bureaucrat decides how it’s spent. So all this Republican hoopla is just a distraction from the real issue. They intend to increase the debt by hundreds of billions of dollars, almost two trillion, in fact.
Senate Republicans voted Tuesday to abandon the use of budget earmarks that direct money to favored projects, setting up an unusual alliance with the White House and exerting pressure on reluctant Democratic lawmakers to follow suit.
The vote by the GOP caucus for a two-year moratorium on earmarks is not binding on its members, but it provided an early example of the influence of the conservative "tea party" movement after the midterm election. House Republicans are expected to take a similar step Thursday.
Just eight months ago, a proposal to do away with earmarks was shot down in an overwhelming vote of the Senate that included substantial Republican opposition.
Republican and Democratic supporters of the earmark moratorium said they would push for a floor vote that would be binding on all senators, and a promise from President Obama to veto any spending bill containing earmarks.
Democratic leaders face a difficult decision on how to proceed. They show no inclination for doing away with earmark expenditures, even as Obama has expressed his desire to limit the practice and newer Democratic senators have sided with him and Republicans on the issue.
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.), an unabashed earmark supporter whose reelection victory was due in part to his success at steering federal dollars to his home state, said Tuesday, "I am not going, personally, going to back off of bringing stuff back to Nevada."…
Inserted from <LA Times>
Actually I favor the moratorium, because earmarks are a way Senators and Representatives with seniority pay political debts and get a disproportionate share of spending for their states and districts. They make the spending more wasteful.
Rachel Maddow did a great piece on Republican plans to balloon the debt.
Can there now be any doubt that Democrats, however wasteful, are the far more fiscally responsible party?
10 Responses to “The Republicans’ Favorite Lie”
Sorry, the comment form is closed at this time.
And the lie goes on and on and on.
I loved what Rachel Maddow said last night. Writing and repeating what they SAY they do and are is not news. What they DO cannot be ignored. The space between the two things is what should make up the NEWS.
The thing that most pundits and TV people forget to say over and over is the biggest contributing factor to how Americans have become so politically ignorant – not just being without information, but being awash in MISinformation – is because we now have 2 generations of Americans who have been exposed only to the Right Wing media. In most media markets – especially in the south and in rural areas, there is no other point of view presented. The whole world is defined by the Right Wing.
Thus the beauty of the internet, which allows people anywhere in the world to access information from multiple points of view. Of course, people still need to use critical thinking skills to analyze that information, but at least the access is there.
I agree completely with both of you.
The sad thing is that, in most red states, the Internet is commonly thought to be the space between two fishin’ nets hanging on the garage wall.
Great exdpose, Tom! By cutting back on necessary renewal and infrastructure spending, this economy will collapse into a new Great Depression. Far from being fiscally responsible, the Repubs are blatantly IRRESPONSIBLE mismanagers of economic matters. If they want to seriously cut spending, they ought to look in the direction of the Pentagon. The only “defense” spending going on there is the defense of vastly overbloated contractor sales and profits.
I HATE the idea, but the Republicans will destroy this economy and may lead us into an eventual catastrophic and wholly unnecessary war. Say your prayers and keep your fungers crossed. It’s gonna get real ugly!
What Jack said! I’d say more but I can’t type worth a damn right now.
I can type, but I agree… What jack said.
You are right, TomCat. Earmarks will do nothing to ease the debt. They only direct expenditures. The money will be spent anyway. Again more talk but no action from the republicans. It is all smoke and mirrors.
Republicans are great debt creators. Check out the table over at Angry Bear. Four out of five of the top debt creators (largest annualized deficit growth rate) are republicans. The lone Democrat is Obama who inherited a huge debt (which he has reduced) from Bush and a collapsed economy. The republicans cover a period of time of 23 years. The Democrats less than 2 years.
It is very obvious who the fiscal conservatives are.
Thanks Jerry.
Expenses in 2009 came from a budget written in 2008, under Bush. In 2010, Obama and the Dems reduced the deficit from the previous year.
Those have to be the two dumbest contestants on the earth – who are they Rebpubs? 😛
No, Lisa. They didn’t look on their palms once for answers. 😉