February 1, 2010

ConservaDem Evan Bayh just can't help himself can he? On Fox News Sunday when asked about the President's proposed non-security discretionary spending freeze, Bayh sides with the likes of Paul Ryan and calls critics of the spending freeze 'far-left'.

Wallace: First of all Sen. Bayh, Congressman Ryan this question as to whether or not the spending freeze and the President's ideas for fiscal discipline are real or a sham, go at it.

BAYH: Well, if you look, I suspect Paul does not, but if you look at the far left-wing blogs and that kind of thing they're severely criticizing the president for being too fiscally austere. My own take on this, Paul is right. Domestic discretionary spending increased last year. I voted against the omnibus, I voted against the "minibus", I voted against the bus... and so, that's last year. The question is where do we go here from now?

This freeze is important. He's identified $20 billion which if you aggregate over the next ten years is $250 billion less spending. Does that solve all our problems? No. But it's a step in the right direction and his use of the veto pen -- you asked if it's a wake-up call Chris. It is, but it's important Congress not hit the snooze button. So we need to implement these cuts and look for long-term solutions to get spending and the deficit down.

I wonder if Bayh was referring to Paul Krugman and his criticism of the freeze which he called 'appalling on every level'. Or Rachel Maddow who took Jared Bernstein apart when he tried to explain the rationale behind the decision. I'd like to see Bayh go on Maddow's show and try to explain himself to her. I don't think he'd fare very well. She might actually ask him to follow up and explain who he was talking about and why he thinks they're wrong.

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