John McCain gets it, while Dennis Hastert has been drinking the party Kool-Aid. From Yahoo! News:
"Throughout our history, wartime has been a time of sacrifice. ... What have we sacrificed?" McCain said. "As mind-boggling as expanding Medicare has been, nothing tops my confusion for cutting taxes during wartime. I don't remember ever in the history of warfare when we cut taxes."
Asked Wednesday about McCain's remarks, Hastert, who was rejected for military service because of a bad shoulder, first joked: "Who? Where's he from? A Republican?"
Then, more seriously, he said: "If you want to see sacrifice, John McCain ought to visit our young men and women at Walter Reed and Bethesda (two Washington area military hospitals). There's the sacrifice in this country. We're trying to make sure that they have the ability to fight this war, that they have the wherewithal to be able to do it. And at the same time, we have to react to keep this country strong not only militarily but economically. We want to be able to have the flexibility to do it. That's my reply to John McCain."
McCain stood fast in his reply to Hastert.
"The speaker is correct in that nothing we are called upon to do comes close to matching the heroism of our troops," he said. "All we're called upon to do is not spend our nation into bankruptcy while our soldiers risk their lives. I fondly remember a time when real Republicans stood for fiscal responsibility."
I remember it, too. It wasn't all that long ago. What happened? Our government's fiscal policy is sort of like deciding at 2 AM, after a long night of drinking, that another couple pitchers of beer is a great idea. Oh sure, there will be hell to pay later, but it feels so good right now.
Don't get me wrong, I like tax cuts as much as the next guy. But doesn't anybody remember the federal debt? It's got to be paid back. You can't spend money like a shipload of drunken sailors and cut taxes at the same time. I never thought I'd see the day when the Democrats were (at least compared to the Republicans) the party of sound fiscal policy.
Oh yeah, one more thing. Speaker Hastert? I can't believe you have the gall to suggest that John McCain doesn't understand military sacrifice. I cannot believe those words came out of your mouth. How can you not just keel over and die of embarassment? Do yourself a favor and STFU.
Posted by Mr Green at May 20, 2004 03:02 PM