GOP pledge beats Democrats' delays

San Francisco Chronicle ^ | 9/28/10 | Debra J. Saunders

[SmithL]

The House Republicans' "Pledge to America" calls for an extension of the Bush tax cuts for all; a rollback of government spending to pre-stimulus, pre-bailout levels; "strict budget caps"; an end to the Troubled Asset Relief Program and the rest of the Obama stimulus package. What's not to like?

Having been asked what they would do differently if they ran the House, the Republicans came up with an answer.

Meanwhile, the Democrats run the House, but they are not acting as if they are in charge. They haven't passed a budget. They're putting off a vote to extend all or some of the Bush tax cuts until after the Nov. 2 election. They're acting like lame ducks before they become lame ducks.

They can't seem to get much of anything done, except deflect attention from their fecklessness to gaps in the GOP pledge.

Liberal pundits have hit the Repubs for not presenting specific spending cuts. On the right, RedState Editor Erick Erickson dismissed the document as a series of "compromises and milquetoast rhetorical flourishes."

Rep. Kevin McCarthy, R-Bakersfield, who helped draft the GOP pledge, doesn't agree that it's light on spending-cut specifics. "We roll it back to pre-stimulus" spending levels, McCarthy noted, which means cutting the Department of Labor and other non-security budgets.

[Carley]

The dems are leaving town with NO budget in place.

Sickening and shameful.

[runninglips]

The party of the right endorses a return to slower mincing around the edge of the cliff. I wonder if they realize how radical most conservatives...maybe even Americans are about the need for “Hope and Change”. We “Hope” they cut the budget to the bone, and put away the pistol we have pointed at our collective heads in a game of national suicide. Without the “Change” a drastic return to fiscal sanity, GAME OVER. No amount of tinkering will do it. I actually think quite a few 0 voters were looking for that sort of thing in 2008.

[SMARTY]

They don't need a budget. They print money at will and are intentionally working to permanently de-value US currency.

It is NOT compatible with Liberal interests for the US economy to be stable much less thriving.

What would happen to the Liberal voter base if people know that they can succeed and profit by working?

[Buckeye McFrog]

and ya can’t best something with nothing as the saying goes
(which is frankly why I expected them to pull the trigger on some huge populist giveaway by now)

[Vaduz]

They’re acting like lame ducks before they become lame ducks.
Duck season is now open no limit.

[thulldud]

Duck season is now open no limit.

[Kellis91789]

“Liberal pundits have hit the Repubs for not presenting specific spending cuts.”

What could be MORE specific than saying they want to cut EVERYTHING back to 2008 levels ? After all, the list of the thousands of budget lines for 2008 is a matter of public record. Therefor, the “Pledge” specifically identifies thousands of spending cuts, doesn’t it ?

I’d go further and make all government employees’ pay dependent on finding ways to cut costs. Cutting what their department or agency spends by 10% will get that person a 10% raise. If their costs increase, their personal pay will be CUT by that amount. The private sector has cut its costs every year through productivity and technology, but government costs only increase ? Ridiculous! In every organization, someone decides how much to spend on staff, supplies, facilities, etc. Those are the people that need to be rewarded or punished for their spending decisions. Otherwise, they will always demand more money for their department and then demand more money for themselves based on their larger “Responsibilities”.