Cluephone: Congress, it's for you!

I had high hopes for this term of congress. With a united government for the first time since the 1960s, I expected to see major legislation passed to deal with some of the intractable problems that could only be talked about during years of divided government.

Was I ever wrong! About the only thing our government did well in the current session of Congress was writing checks to support the troops..

Pretty much everything else we got out of Congress this session amounted to setting fire to money -- a virtual orgy of pointless spending on bridges to nowhere, rebuilding railroads that have already been rebuilt, and in general acting as if no one alive remembers 1994's Republican "Contract With America".

I've returned dozens of fund-raising letters this year with refusals to contribute even a penny while the spending orgy continues. But so far as I can tell, no one cares. I have yet to receive even the tiniest indication anyone anywhere has even read a word I've written on the subject.

This Fall could be disastrous for Republicans if the current congressional arrogance continues.

Hugh Hewett said it best:
"Bottom line: It is hard to see how the GOP is not like the Titanic, except it is aiming for the iceberg."
(Not a cheerful thought from a guy who just wrote a book on how to create a permanent Republican majority.)

The "good guys" regarding all this may be found at Porkbusters. Lots of good reading - if only anyone in either party's leadership cared.

Update: Add the Wall Street Journal to those upset:
"The chief culprits are the House Appropriators, led by Committee Chairman Jerry Lewis of California and his 13 subcommittee chairmen known as "cardinals." If Republicans lose the House--and they are well on their way--Mr. Lewis deserves the moniker of the minority maker.

For weeks, the Republican Study Committee, a group of fiscally conservative Members, had been negotiating a spending outline with the House leadership. But when they finally struck a deal last week, Mr. Lewis refused to go along and threatened to defeat the budget on the House floor if Speaker Denny Hastert brought it up."
...
"At the current pace, a Democratic majority in Congress would be preferable, if only for reasons of truth in advertising."