Countdown to the Senate Showdown
It's time to gear up. The Senate showdown on earmarks is next week. The good guys, Tom Coburn and Jim DeMint, are battling the appropriators and the big spenders. There were indications late last week that a "continuing resolution" would be issued, which would potentially save taxpayers up to $17 billion. However, I'm now getting word from a source on the Hill that the CR isn't a done deal.
I wrote about this whole thing last week. John Fund wrote about it yesterday, and now the Wall Street Journal's editorial board is weighing in, offering some sage advice ($) for Coburn's and DeMint's colleagues. Excerpt:
All of the special-interest shouting [against the continuing resolution] is a familiar bit of bad Washington theater designed to scare Congress into spending more. But what do Republicans have to lose now that they've already lost their majority? On the other hand, what they could gain is some of the fiscal respect they abandoned in recent years. By leaving behind a lower spending "baseline," they'd also make it harder for Democrats to break the bank next year.
So rather than denounce Senators DeMint and Coburn, their GOP brethren should thank the pair for offering this tough love to help break their addiction. It's more love than the voters just showed them.
