I'm sure you recall how Blanche Lincoln and Ben Nelson demagogued the price tag of the healthcare reform bill and how they both claim to be deficit hawks -- fiscal conservatives who want nothing more than to cut spending and reduce the deficit. Well...
Before passing the state fiscal aid bill, Democrats actually gave Jim DeMint two votes on tax rates. He wanted to add massively to the deficit – literally trillions of dollars – by freezing in place the tax rates on individuals and “small businesses” that we have now, and which make us one of the most lightly-taxed industrialized nations on the planet. And look at this: Democrats rejected the measure entirely. On both votes, only Ben Nelson [and Sen. Blanche Lincoln (AR)] crossed the aisle to vote with all Republicans [except deficit hawk George Voinovich (OH)]
That's right, "deficit hawks" Blanche Lincoln, Ben Nelson and nearly all of the Senate Republicans voted to add $3.1 trillion to the deficit. Unbelievable. And, to repeat, it's important to underscore here that all of the Republicans, minus Voinovich, voted for DeMint's stupid tax rate bill. But of course the press will continue to take the Republicans seriously on the deficit.