The newly minted fiscal conservatives (Times Union)

[struggle4progress]

By CYNTHIA TUCKER
First published in print: Sunday, June 14, 2009

It would be so much easier to take Republicans seriously on government spending now if they'd ever complained about a penny spent back during the tenure of President George W. Bush, especially during the six years when they controlled every branch of government and could have cut spending dramatically. They could have fought the Pentagon on expensive and unnecessary weapons, eliminated farm subsidies to wealthy growers and pared back Medicare.

Instead, they did just the opposite. They slashed taxes and substantially increased government spending, burning through the estimated $800 billion annual surplus the federal government had accumulated under Bill Clinton. The Republican-dominated Congress even passed a huge entitlement, the fiscally foolish prescription drug plan for the elderly.

Now, though, with Democrats in control, Republicans are fiscal conservatives again -- or so they say. House Minority Leader John Boehner has rediscovered his inner tightwad, and Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin is using the growing sea of red ink to declare she was right about an Obama presidency all along.

All the fuss from detractors, and legitimate criticism of mounting deficits from Federal Reserve chief Ben Bernanke, prompted President Barack Obama to tell Congress last week that he'd reintroduce the "pay as you go'" law, which expired in 2002. It would require that new spending programs be paid for with budget cuts or revenue increases. And it's not a bad idea ...

http://www.timesunion.com/AspStories/story.asp?storyID=810071&category=OPINION

[izquierdista]

1. Bait 'n Switch

The Repubs have bait 'n switch as one of their core values. It's not do as I do, acting as example that they offer, but "never mind what I did, here's what I say" that they offer. From sex (don't mind my foot tapping in the men's room, I say no way to the gay) to money (never mind all the debt I ran up, we have to balance the budget now) to violence (I'm pro-life and I'll shoot anyone who says otherwise), they throw out the highly moralistic bait and then switch it for their deceitful reality. They don't even bother with any visual distraction during this magic; they show you a hat with a rabbit in it and they swear up and down that the hat is empty and you need to believe that they are conjuring up a rabbit.