Just in case anyone out there thinks that a Democrat-controlled Congress will mean a return to fiscal sanity:

During his childhood years in Searchlight, Sen. Harry Reid was known as "Pinky." Based on votes he's cast in Washington recently, perhaps "Porky" would now be more appropriate.

Over the past week, a group of fiscally responsible Republicans -- led by Sen. Tom Coburn of Oklahoma and including Sen. John Ensign of Nevada -- courageously forced up-or-down votes on a handful of questionable projects larding up the $106.5 billion appropriations measure designed to address the Iraq war and Hurricane Katrina relief.

-- By a vote of 49-48, senators decided to keep alive a $700 million allocation designed to relocate a rail line on the Mississippi coast so the state can build a new highway. Sen. Reid voted for the spending.

-- By a vote of 51-48, senators approved giving a Mississippi defense contractor up to $200 million to make up for hurricane losses the company says its insurance contractor won't pay. Sen. Reid voted for the spending.

-- By a vote of 59-40, senators agreed to put taxpayers on the hook for $6 million to bail out two Hawaii sugar growers who suffered flood damages. Sen. Reid voted for the spending.

-- By a vote of 51-44, the spending hawks won their lone victory, killing a move to add $15 million to the bill for a seafood promotion program. Sen. Reid voted for the spending.

I do wonder how landlocked and mostly desert Nevada has an interest in promoting seafood...but, no bother, for Harry Reid the Taxpayer is just a bottomless well of money.

There is a great danger this November - that foolhardy Republicans will want to punish the GOP leadership by staying home...while our GOP leadership has strayed pretty far from the conservative straight and narrow, a return to Democratic rule would mean a flood of new spending, in addition to their criminalising Republicanism via Congressional hearings.

Our GOP leadership is slowly getting the message - but we GOP rank and file also need to get the message: nothing is worse than Majority Leader Reid and Speaker Pelosi. If the thought of such puts a shivver of fear in you, good.

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