Historical amnesia on Republican spending

Please note, angry readers, that I am not citing these figures to claim that the Obama administration has done any better: On the contrary, the Obama administration is far more profligate than Clinton or Bush, terrifyingly so. After Obama’s first budget, De Rugy predicted “unprecedented and sustained levels of debt for the American people, their children and grandchildren.” But then, the Democratic Party does not call itself the party of small government. The GOP does.

Parties, of course, can change; politicians can see the light; lessons can be learned; and perhaps some Republicans have learned them. But you cannot start from scratch. You cannot forget history. You cannot pretend that the Republican Party has not supported big and wasteful spending programs — energy subsidies, farm subsidies, unnecessary homeland security projects, profligate defense contracts, you name it — for the past decade. Before the GOP can have credibility on any spending issues whatsoever, Republican leaders need to speak frankly about the mistakes of the past.