I Love the Sound of Shame in the Morning
Last night, I was tuning in to my local NPR affiliate, where ethically compromised new Hampshire republican Judd Gregg was yammering on about the need to reform Social Security, otherwise known as “cutting benefits that everyone paid for.”
“But the budget itself has some real serious problems, in my opinion, because it is a massive expansion in spending and a massive expansion in taxes. And the real problem is that in the out years, not only does it increase spending in taxes, but it passes on to our children a government that can’t be afforded, and that’s a big problem.”
I’m always one to applaud fiscal restraint, but a little birdy told me there was more to this stroy, so i called up the office on my way into work. A perky young woman answered the phone.
I explained what I’d heard on the radio, and told her that I was impressed with the Senator’s commitment to fiscal sanity. And then I asked the big one.
“There’s something troubling me, and I hope you can answer my question. Isn’t it true that senator Gregg voted to go to war in Iraq?”
I love the sound of embarrassment in the morning, and the woman’s barely audible response was marinated in shame. Out of her lips slipped a tiny, whispery, and dare I say deeply unhappy, “Yes.”
“And isn’t it true,” I went on, “that this war was sold to the American people as something that would be over in 6 months, that would only cost a few billion dollars, and besides that didn’t matter because the oil revenues would pay for the war, and that the reason it would be over so quickly is that our soldiers would be met as liberators, showered with flowers and candy?
“You don’t have to answer that, because we all know how that turned out. Isn’t it also true that Senator Gregg, like the rest of the GOP, decided not to raise taxes to pay for this war?”
Again, the shame. “Yes.”
“so could you tell me who’s going to pay for this war?”
“Umm….”
“It’s going to be our children. And our children’s children. And their children too probably, all of who will pay higher taxes, inheriting “a government that can’t be afforded” and driving down their standard of living? I’m happy to be corrected,” I added. “And if you can point me to somewhere where Senator Gregg refused to vote for the war unless it was paid for with taxes, that’d be great.
“and while we’re talking about spending, isn’t it true that over the past 8 years, the pay-as-you-go rules were allowed to lapse in the GOP controlled House and Senate:
The PAYGO rules were allowed to lapse in the House and watered down in the Senate, which made it easier for lawmakers to approve President George W. Bush’s tax cuts and a Medicare prescription drug plan…
With the gutting, then abandonment, of PAYGO, budget deficits returned. The federal surplus shrank from $236.2 billion in 2000 to $128.2 billion in 2001, then a $157.8 billion deficit in 2002. The deficit increased to $377.6 in 2003 and $412.7 billion in 2004. [3] The federal deficit excluding trust funds was $537.3 billion in FY2006. [6] In the first 6 years of President Bush’s term, with a Republican controlled Congress, the federal debt increased by $3 trillion.
“Where was Senator Gregg then? i don’t remember him criticizing the end of PAYGO, and I don’t remember him voting no on ANY Republican spending bill over the past 8 years, whether it came from Congress or the White House. Am I wrong?”
Again, the tidal wave of shame in a barely audible “No.”
“Could you pass along a message to the senator for me?”
The young woman perked up again: at last it was over. “Sure, I’d be happy to.”
“Please tell Senator Gregg that when it comes to criticizing spending, he’s got no credibility at all. Please tell him that for the next four years, when he’s tempted to spout off about irresponsible spending, he should shut his mouth. He has nothing to add to the discussion, he has no credibility on the issue, and the sooner he realizes this the better. can you pass that along please?”
“Yes sir,” the young woman responded, and we hung up.
Maybe Senator Gregg is hollow inside, but it’s good to know that someone in his office has some vestigial sense of shame. I wanted to tell her to run before even that tiny, wizened, shriveled bit of her soul dried up and blew away.
February 27th, 2009 at 3:36 pm
[...] makes a phone call. [...]