Tom Delay has been in Congress too long. Way too long.
House Majority Leader Tom DeLay said yesterday that Republicans have done so well in cutting spending that he declared an "ongoing victory," and said there is simply no fat left to cut in the federal budget.
Mr. DeLay was defending Republicans' choice to borrow money and add to this year's expected $331 billion deficit to pay for Hurricane Katrina relief. Some Republicans have said Congress should make cuts in other areas, but Mr. DeLay said that doesn't seem possible.
"My answer to those that want to offset the spending is sure, bring me the offsets, I'll be glad to do it. But nobody has been able to come up with any yet," the Texas Republican told reporters at his weekly briefing.
Asked if that meant the government was running at peak efficiency, Mr. DeLay said, "Yes, after 11 years of Republican majority we've pared it down pretty good."
It's become increasingly obvious that the Republican leadership's dedication to small government has been waning for quite some time. I think we can now declare that dedication officially dead.
The House Majority Leader can't find anything left in the budget to cut? This is absurd. Even more absurd is his assertion that no one has been able to come up with anything to cut in the budget. Apparently he's never heard of Citizen's Against Government Waste who's published a whole list of projects they think can be cut.
Reasonable people can disagree about what can and can't be cut from the budget, but to assert that there is nothing that can be cut and that no one has been able to list anything to cut is about as bold-faced a lie as you can come up with.
It's time for Delay to go!
Update: Even more things Delay could do to clean up the budget.
Update: Slate has several links regarding this issue. (Including, I was shocked to find, my own.)
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