Credit where credit is due
Economist Brian Wesbury on the debt deal:
"The newly elected conservatives did not vote for any of this. They say they were elected to clean it up. When called into Speaker Boehner’s office to get their arms twisted, they said, “I didn’t come here to be on a certain committee or get earmarks. You can’t buy my vote; you can only earn it by doing the right thing.” Whether you like their politics or not, you have to say, how refreshing! Moreover, they were rolled in the appropriations process shortly after they arrived on Capitol Hill. Boehner told them to trust him and then passed a smoke-and-mirrors budget. The conservatives said, “This will not happen again.”
"The newly elected conservatives did not vote for any of this. They say they were elected to clean it up. When called into Speaker Boehner’s office to get their arms twisted, they said, “I didn’t come here to be on a certain committee or get earmarks. You can’t buy my vote; you can only earn it by doing the right thing.” Whether you like their politics or not, you have to say, how refreshing! Moreover, they were rolled in the appropriations process shortly after they arrived on Capitol Hill. Boehner told them to trust him and then passed a smoke-and-mirrors budget. The conservatives said, “This will not happen again.”
And in the end, they won another impressive victory. The Reid-Boehner compromise bill has no tax hikes (a miracle), it trims spending growth over 10 years by about $2.5 trillion and it includes a promise of an up or down vote on a balanced-budget amendment."
Excellent article. You might remember this quote from Trent Lott: "As soon as they get here, we need to co-opt them." (Shailagh Murray, "Republican Lawmakers Gird for Rowdy Tea Party, The Washington Post, July 18, 2010)
The new conservatives should print that in big letters and hang it over their office doors, as a daily reminder.
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I keep explaining that I am NOT a member of the Tea Party. I am howevere a conservative and as such find myself admiring them along with Libertarians and other fellow travellers. They proved a lot in this showdown, not the least of which is that they can govern - a big deal.
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I gather that only new conservative members of Congress are qualified to call themselves Hobbits.
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