Fiscal restraint

As Barack Obama ($40 million) and Hillary Clinton ($20 million) continue to raise record amounts of money before the Pennsylvania primary on 22 April, James Burns in an article in the "National Journal" has some saavy advice for the candidates. John McCain may also want to read what Burns has to say. ..."touting their spending and tax cutting proposals to woo the blue-collar voters who could be the key to the state's April 22 Democratic primary. But a new analysis by the Democratic Leadership Council has some advice for the Democratic standard-bearer if he or she wants to win over independents in the general election: Stand for fiscal restraint". Amen! As Americans are paying more for gas, groceries, and everything else, they want to see their government live within their means. Unfortunately, the Bush administration never learned this lesson and has given us record deficits and new entitlements. If the Democrats are unable to articulate such a message, albeit a risky one for tried and true liberals, they will again be labled as "tax and spend" liberals who are still out of touch with mainstream America. Similarly, while John McCain wants to make the Bush tax cuts permanent he, too, needs to reestablish his hawkish position on fiscal restraint or he will be labeled as a Bush clone when it comes to spending. If John and Jayne Q. Public have to live within their means, so should the Federal government. None of us has a printing press in our basement we can turn on whenever we need more money.