Democrats Finally Facing Fiscal Reality?

That's a lead story at the LA Times. According to the Times, Democrats are finally beginning to think that just maybe the deficit could be a slight problem. It's not that they don't still want to spend taxpayer money like drunken sailors, shoveling it to every Democratic-supporting special interest in sight; they do. But they are beginning to feel like it might hurt their reelection chances.

"There's no question that people are almost as concerned about the deficit and government spending as about jobs," said Mark Mellman, a pollster who works closely with congressional Democrats. "It is not just about the actual dollars — it is a metaphor for wasted money and lack of discipline and long-term economic decline."

Here's a small piece of advice for anyone concerned about deficits and government spending. Stop voting for Democrats. The standard response to that is for a Democrat or independent to point to the Bush administration and the last time the GOP controlled Congress and say, look how much Republicans spent under Bush. And it's certainly true that there are big government, big spending Republicans, and that the GOP went on a spending spree during the Bush years. But while they were doing so, Democrats were howling for even more spending, accusing Bush of cutting programs even as he increased expenditures. No matter how much money Republicans want to spend, Democrats always want to spend more -- except maybe on defense and national security, the one area where government spending is most justifiable. It's a law of U.S. politics. So if you are an independent whose number one issue is cutting government spending, vote Republican. No matter how bad Republicans might be on spending, Democrats are going to be worse -- usually much worse. You can bank on it.