Budget Sleeze

Read these two posts (here and here) and then go take a shower...

The key line to me is:

...the cuts that will be implemented mostly strike the working poor and their children — and don't really have much impact on the deficit anyway

Absolutely... things like dropping our support of local law enforment from a paltry $600 million to $60 million and taking away the home heating subsidies for the elderly are going to hit communities very hard, but it does virtually nothing to the deficit.

Update: The LA Times is both right and wrong when they proclaim that the era of big government is back. Yes, it is, but if all goes as planned for the Republican Norquist acolytes it will only be temporary. Once the ship runs aground, the cargo that will get thrown overboard will be the big guns: social security, medicare, medicaid, etc. I was very surprised to see real discussion of the "stave the beast" strategy that has been openly talked about in many right-wing circles...