Rebellion in the G.O.P. Sinks a Bill

After insisting for months that the federal budget deficit should be reduced by spending cuts rather than tax increases, House Republicans were blocked by a rebellion in their own ranks early Friday over a bill that would have imposed tough limits on spending.

Voting 286 to 146, the House defeated a bill that would have frozen or reduced spending on most discretionary programs outside of defense and domestic security, while leaving the way clear to make President Bush's tax cuts permanent.

The vote highlighted the conflict among Republican lawmakers, who have control of both the House and Senate, over how to claim the mantle of fiscal responsibility.

House and Senate Republicans had already been unable to pass a budget resolution, which provides the framework for spending and taxes, because they could not agree on whether lawmakers should be required to find ways to pay for new tax cuts as well as new spending programs. House Republicans insisted that lawmakers should apply such restrictions only to new spending, but a handful of Republican moderates in the Senate demanded that limits apply to tax cuts as well.

more......................

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/06/25/politics/25spend.html

Spending bad. (Only when it's the other guy's constituents that are being spent on)

why the rank and file Representatives go along with the leadership. one man runs the executive branch. (Rove) like three men run the house of Reps.. but the senate seems to be a little more deliberative

The GOP is organized and keeps a tight control on its membership. After reading that essay, I was a little frightened because I know there is nothing set up on the left wing side to counter the right wing organization.

"The Right Rules" is here:
http://www.nationalreview.com/script/printpage.asp?ref=/comment/micklethwait_wooldridge200406160902.asp

From the article:

House Republicans found themselves at odds with a powerful and turf-conscious group within their own party: members of the House Appropriations Committee, who complained that the spending limits would violate the Constitutional requirement for separation of powers between Congress and presidency.

"Statutory caps would bring the executive branch into the mix of setting the budget,'' charged Representative C. W. Bill Young, Republican of Florida,the chairman of the House Appropriations Committee. "O.M.B. would be in the driver's seat,'' he said, referring to the White House Office of Management and Budget.
(snip)

THANKS A LOT!

This proves that the "conservative revolution" is dead. "Strong government" is expected by the people, and both parties are tending in that direction. I don't want to hear Kerry talk about "big government" being "over." He will gain no votes with such talk. In fact, the time is ripe for an expansion of social programs. I would advise that, if we are to assume power, we have little concern about debt in the short run.

It's Norquist's plan and it's been a major GOP objective since the Reagan years. That's why Reagan, after campaigning on a balanced budget, sudduenly took the view "deficits don't matter."