Today’s GOP:

There is no specific mention of a “Vote-a-Rama” in the Constitution, which is probably because the Framers could not have imagined what happened in the Senate yesterday: The chamber’s 100 members gathered and, in a frenzy of legislative activity, did their darnedest to empty the Treasury.

It was the political equivalent of going on a shopping spree the same day you get a credit-line increase on your over-the-limit card. In the morning, the senators increased the federal debt limit by $800 billion, to $9 trillion — that’s with a T. In the afternoon came the Vote-a-Rama, a carnival in which the lawmakers took turns pitching scores of amendments to the 2007 budget measure, most calling for more money for favorite programs.

“The Republican Party is now principally moderate, if not liberal!” exulted Sen. Arlen Specter (R-Pa.), after the Senate — including a majority of Republicans — approved his budget-busting amendment to spend an extra $7 billion on domestic programs.

Just a week ago, GOP leaders gathered in Memphis and proclaimed the party’s commitment to fiscal restraint; yesterday, the restraints came off. “All the talk in Memphis doesn’t comport with reality,” said Specter, savoring his victory in a leather armchair in the Senate press gallery. “I don’t have any apologies to make for this 7 billion. I’m still not satisfied.”

[...]

While the Senate was increasing the government’s borrowing limit and growing the budget, the House was having a little Vote-a-Rama of its own, adding goodies to a $92 billion spending package to pay for Iraq and hurricane recovery.

Meanwhile, House members, facing a 5 p.m. deadline, scrambled to submit spending requests for their pet projects to the Appropriations Committee. By day’s end, the committee had received 3,602 requests for a grand total of $14.9 billion.

[...]

When Specter visited the press gallery to talk about his $7 billion, a reporter asked if the senator had employed “sort of a gimmick” to evade budget rules.

“It’s not sort of a gimmick,” Specter deadpanned. “It is a gimmick.”

Ha! Amusing. Funny. Ticklish! Until you remember that it’s your damned money.

Tell me again, why should anyone who cares about limited government support this party?

This entry was posted on Friday, March 17th, 2006 at 1:02 pm by Radley Balko and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.