I had the opportunity over this past weekend to hear a little presentation by Georgia's Senior Senator, Saxby Chambliss.  He spoke for a few minutes to a meeting of the (mostly Republican) "Americans For Prosperity", at a meeting in Marietta.  Here's a tip for you, Senator:  When addressing a group of people whose focus is reducing taxes AND spending, it's probably not a very effective technique to try to pass off a $20 billion or so spending increase as some sort of fiscal restarint.  You sound like Willie Sutton doing a bank advertisement!

OK, that may take some explaining for all you young whippersnappers out there.  Willie Sutton was a famous bankrobber of the early and mid 20th century.  Sutton was credited with answering the question, "Why did you rob banks?" with "Because that's where the money is."  Saxby Chamblissis a Senator who seems to think that taking a government health-care-payment program called SCHIP (the program that funds Georgia's Peachcare, among other things) from $25 billion to $60 billion over the next 5 years, is a *good* thing.  Well, it has to be good, because the evil, spendthrift Democrats wanted to take it even higher!

Thanks a heap, Saxby!  What is this, the O.J. Simpson school of restraint?  You're only going to cut our throats a half-inch deep, instead of the full inch the other guys wanted?

When the bloody hell are the elected Republicans REALLY going to get it?  For the last 8 months, I've heard Republican politiians do nothing but say over and over how they "Understand now", and how "the voters were right to turn us out because we didn't do the right thing."

BULLETIN!  ALERT!  The Republicans who DIDN'T get turned out, STILL DON"T GET IT!

How about taking a page from Nancy Reagan's playbook instead?  JUST SAY NO!  There are two possibilities if you do that:

      1)  You stop the increase.  Then you get to go home and tell your constituents 
            you did the right thing - you stopped the increase.
      2)   You get steamrollered and the increase goes through full-force.  Then you get 
            to go home and tell your constituents you did the right thing, but the other guys
             didn't, so send us back and them home.

Nope.  Can't do that, can you?  Instead, you're like a bystander at a gang rape, who decides to hold the victims down, so the rapist doesn't hurt them too much.