bunk

Senator Jim's latest move is obviously a campaign ploy. One of Claire's primary campaign platforms is government spending -- as in the so-called small-government GOP has created the biggest, most expensive government in Americankind, and she -- a Show-me Donkey with lots and lots of favors to repay -- is going to be the one to bring it all under control. No doubt this strategy comes right out of the focus groups Claire's Big Dem backers from Back East have paid for, because it sure as hell doesn't jibe with the spirit of Democrats (especially Missouri Dems), who never saw a piece of pork they didn't like, or a crony they didn't want to pay.

So now Talent calls a press conference and announces a bill to give the president line-item veto power, to cut down on all this ridiculous spending he's party to. He's mixed some Eye of Newt into the brew. Well folks, it's just posturing, because it'll never pass both houses of Congress, much less a nationwide vote. He might as well have gotten up to the podium and made fart sounds. This bill will have about the same effect.

Plus it's stupid. This bill basically says that hundreds and hundreds of members of Congress can't be trusted to prevent one another from using our tax dollars as a bribery slush fund. So we should instead trust one man (and, I suppose, his cronies) to control spending. Yeah, right. Like we can expect the President not to play favorites and the bribery game. Graft will just be more focused if the President gets the line-item veto.

But, no matter. Politics isn't about doing right by the people so much as getting re-elected. Senator Jim's gotta keep his job. He needed an answer to Claire's needling. Now he can roll into Rolla, clear his throat and say, "I agree that government spending is out of control, that's why I introduced a bill calling for a line-item veto..."