Dems Drive Another Stake into the Conservative Project

By Joshua Holland, AlterNet. Posted January 15, 2007.

The Democrats' passage of tough budget rules in Congress mark another step in righting the course of GOP profligacy.

Americans from all walks of life rejoiced last week when the House, as part of the new Democratic majority's "100 hours agenda," passed pay-as-you-go rules for Congressional budgeting by a 280-152 vote.

Or maybe not. On its face, the measure appears to be the type of eye-watering technocratic fix so popular with the Clinton-era policy set. After a decade of reckless borrow-and-spend governance, "paygo" looks like re-arranging the deck chairs on the Titanic -- tinkering around the edges of a federal government with screwy priorities and a dysfunctional legislative system.