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Forgetting Nothing, Learning Nothing, GOP-Style

Of course, it’s not the level of spending that gets the most attention; it’s the manner in which the spending is allocated. The proliferation of earmarks is largely a product of the Gingrich-DeLay years, and it’s no surprise that some of the most ardent practitioners were earmarked by the voters for retirement yesterday. Few Americans […]

Of course, it’s not the level of spending that gets the most attention; it’s the manner in which the spending is allocated. The proliferation of earmarks is largely a product of the Gingrich-DeLay years, and it’s no surprise that some of the most ardent practitioners were earmarked by the voters for retirement yesterday. Few Americans will take seriously Republican speeches on limited government if we Republicans can’t wean ourselves from this insidious practice. But if we can go clean, it will offer a stark contrast to the Democrats, who, after two years in training, already have their own earmark favor factory running at full tilt. ~Rep. Jeff Flake

The frustrating thing about this earmark obsession is that Flake is reliably right on spending and I have nothing particularly against Flake, and I understand the impulse to give one’s own priorities more attention when talking about what needs to be done, but how on earth can you come away from the last two consecutive electoral defeats for the GOP and conclude that earmarks and spending are the main problems?  In fairness to Flake, that’s not the entirety of his argument (he gives a nod to rolling back intervention in the financial sector), but glaringly absent is any mention of foreign affairs or national security, immigration policy or trade policy.  It’s not that Flake has taken a mistaken position on any of them–they are simply not included in the discussion.  It is as if the last two years never happened and Republicans are still confident, just as they were in 2006, that “excessive and wasteful spending” did them in.

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