Republicans are Bastards

O.K., Matt, tell me something I don't know.

How else to understand the budget the House/Senate Conference Committee came up with at the end of last week? It doesn't balance the budget and, thanks to adding even more tax cuts on to what we've already had, doesn't even shrink the deficit. Nor does it even cut spending very much. But it does cut spending on Medicaid and, fulfilling Ed Kilgore's February prediction, managed to turn the excellent idea of cutting farm subsidies into the terrible idea of cutting food stamps. All disagreement aside about how much overall spending is desirable, I don't think you can find anyone who thinks on the merits that giving food and medicine to poor people rank number one -- or even close to number one -- on the list of dubious government projects that ought to be on the chopping block. So how is it that these particular programs wound up being the ones to get the ax? Well, it's not too difficult to understand. These are programs that benefit poor people who can't hire lobbyists and who, therefore, lack clout in a Washington, DC run by a Republican Party that's decided to outsource policymaking to K Street.

There are a few lessons to be learned here. One is that Republicans are bastards. Another is that this is what will happen to Social Security if it's transformed into a welfare program instead of the universal social insurance program it is today. The third is that every conservative who promises that no such thing will ever happen but who isn't exactly speaking out forthrightly against these "soak the poor" cuts (i.e., pretty much all of them) is not to be trusted.

What does Tom DeLay think about cutting Medicaid to pay for tax cuts for people who don't need them?

Shortly before the House began its vote, Mr. DeLay said, "This is the budget the American people voted for when they returned a Republican House, a Republican Senate and a Republican president to the White House last November."

Congratulations, America, right from the mouth of Bastard Number 1, who touts a budget that:

1. Doesn't balance the budget.
2. Doesn't reduce the deficit.
3. Cuts medical care and prescription drugs for the poor, while giving more tax cuts to people who do not need the money.

Americans, any buyer's remorse yet?

Any chance you might reconsider in 2006?

Republicans are Bastards