Death by Pork?

Despite numerous warnings from the blogosphere and former donors over the past three years, Republicans in Congress seem utterly determined not to learn the obvious lesson from any of the many elections they have recently lost, as recently as the Mississippi special election yesterday. It's the pork, stupid! People vote for Republicans, above all else to get limited, honest, economical government. Unfortunately, there are only a few such Republicans left in Congress, with most of the rest indistinguishable from Democrats in their fondness for corrupt and ever-growing government spending.

Congress critters are fond of pointing out that earmarks don't really matter because they total such a small part of the overall Federal budget. But that only a tiny fraction of Republicans are willing to give even that tiny part of the total up, despite all the lost elections in recent years speaks volumes about why voters no longer see a reason to believe Republican claims to be more conservative fiscally than Democrats.

Ironically, John McCain, who fervent Republicans love to paint as not a real Republican, is one of the true fiscal conservatives left in Congress. He and Barack Obama co-sponsored a moratorium on earmarks this year that unfortunately went nowhere, even among Republicans. Too bad, as that could and should have been a great campaign issue for them this year. Instead, we now see fiscally-conservative Democrats being elected to replace Republican porkers, and former Republican campaign contributors refusing to pony up even one more dime to their party until it returns to its small government fiscally-conservative roots.

The disaster looming for Republicans this fall can yet be turned around. It wasn't all that long ago that folks were predicting the demise of the Democratic Party after the '94 election rout. But though Democratic votors may tolerate corrupt and wasteful spending by their candidates, by and large Republican voters do not. If Republicans in Congress continue to refuse to learn that lesson, they too may face a rout this Fall, and deservedly so. Unfortunately, if that happens, they may have many decades in which to regret their greed and folly as Democrats happily establish new bureaucracies that can never be eliminated, and nominate judges to make up in creative interpretations for whatever laws Congress cannot quite manage to pass.

Sadly, it reminds me of all the times I've seen morbidly-obese folks at all-you-can-eat buffets, literally killing themselves, yet unwilling to show even the tiniest restraint. Having started down that road myself, I know how hard it is to turn such habits around. But the potential rewards are also great, both for actual and fiscal dieters.

Update: Politico offers six ways the GOP can save itself:
1. Get a clue: "...Mitt Romney says it should be a modern edition of Newt Gingrich's "Contract With America." ... Voters no longer think lean government, smart and strong defense, and good old-fashioned family values when they think Republican. They think reckless spenders, misguided war and hypocrisy."
2. Cut the ****: "You can't run on family values when you don't practice them. "
3. Beg for help: (I consider this idea hopeless until the party steps away from the pork. Who's still stupid enough to give more money to this moneyholic?)
4. Burn the Bush: (Um, he's not running, so why mention him at all? Everyone already knows McCain isn't a Bush clone.)
5. Change the pitch -- and your face: "The image of the white men's club needs to go, too, says Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty."
6. Fan the fear: "Republican officials privately urge lawmakers to whack their opponents whenever they can for worrying more about coddling terrorist suspects than condemning them, failing to support U.S. troops, exhibiting weakness in dealing with dictators, and rushing to a quick Iraq exit that could put U.S. servicemen and women at risk. Polls still show GOP strength on national security and fighting terrorism -- at least when compared with their lousy numbers on domestic issues."

Update2: Republicans in Congress continue trying to lose our votes this Fall by helping Democrats pass a horribly bloated "farm" bill this week despite it having been vetoed by President Bush as wasteful.

Update3: John McCain, on the other hand, clearly "gets it." His nomination of Alaska Governor Sarah Palin as Veep is, as many have said, a "game changer." She shares his interest in clean frugal government, and admirably addresses points 1, 2 & 5 above. The Republican base is thrilled to support her, and isn't it interesting just how quickly and easily anti-woman statements flow out of Democratic commenters this campaign season, regardless of whether the woman involved is Sarah Palin or Hillary Clinton?

Update4: Similar thoughts from Victor David Hanson today: "...conservatives committed two suicidal acts. One, they discredited tax cuts, which under George Bush clearly brought in more aggregate revenue and primed the economy. Had we balanced budgets by spending restraint, no politicians would now dare to suggest the answers for our present budget woes were to be found in higher taxes.

Second, conservatives grew the size of the government. Perhaps No Child Left Behind or the Medicare Prescription Drug supplement was felt to be necessary to ensure bipartisan congressional support for the unpopular Iraq War, perhaps not. But when a conservative grows the size of government, he not only suffers the wage of hypocrisy, but he wins the additional charge of encouraging all others to do the same."