by Mark Rhoads
I have borrowed the title of a funny book by former State Sen. Bill Richardson (R-CA) to make a point. US Senators who comically claim they sit in the world's greatest delibertive body are now set to vote on a 1,071 page bill from the House with so much spending no one can count it.
As Moss Hart once said of a beautiful home, "it shows you what God could have done if he had the money." Call it in round numbers $780 billion. Notice how they cannot even get the tax cuts right because to people who think government owns it subjects, a tax cut is gift to the commoners they do not deserve and that must be scored as a "cost" of a "program."
They don't get that the money belongs to people who earn it in the first place. I don't blame President Obama for this fiasco, I blame leaders in Congress in both parties but more in the Democratic leadership for a complete meltdown of their responsibility.
All this money in a bill not one of them has read and with no public hearings or testimony whatsoever. This above all shows you the complete contempt that Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid have for democratic process. From editorial pages, no outrage at all about this perversion of process. President Obama is not to blame. He is like the soldier sleeping on the floor that George Patton kicked in a movie, at least Obama knew what he was trying to accomplish--spend as much and as fast as you can to buy new voters for the aging Democratic coalitions. The Republicans are in a severe minority but at least they cannot be blamed later when this train wreck becomes apparent to everyone. Seven House Democrats voted no and they are in the clear. Because Sen. Kennedy cannot come due to illness and Sen. Gregg is back in the Senate, the three Senate RINOS are the critical votes to cut off debate. If they had ever been real Republicans, the train would at least slow down. The chutzpah of Senators Snowe, Collins, and Specter taking credit for making the bill "better" is just plain nuts. Even liberal Republicans are not supposed to be elected to make terrible bills just a little less terrible. They are elected to protect the citizens of their states from monstrous government power grabs under the charade of "stimulis." Collins, Snowe, and Specter not only have failed in that duty, they are enabling the drunks to continue drinking.
