Enablers in chief: The GOP's turncoat three

Then again, only in Washington could the word “powerful” be applied to three members who voted for a bill that they always intended to vote for, no matter how big, bad or ugly. Their real accomplishment this week wasn’t “fixing” the stimulus; they didn’t. Their real role was providing cover for moderate Democrats (smile, Messrs. Conrad and Nelson) who might have been reluctant to vote for an unpopular spending blowout, were it not for GOP back-up.

A week ago the Capitol’s phone lines were jammed with Americans — half of them from North Dakota — livid about “stimulus” waste. A number of Senate Democrats, several up for re-election in red-state America, were sweating dollar signs. Then Ms. Collins convened her group, which took very seriously its job of fiddling around the bill’s edges. By the time they emerged, Conrad, Nelson & Co. were boasting that the final Senate product was a “bipartisan compromise” that demonstrated their continued commitment to “fiscal responsibility.” Only in Washington can adding $20 billion to an $817 billion House bill earn you praise as a deficit hawk.