Republicans Better "Rebel" -- Or Voters Will

Carol Platt Liebau | February 09, 2011 10:38 PM

The NY Times reports on "rebellion" within Republican ranks. Some congressmen are -- rightly -- disgusted at a budget that manages to find only $32 billion in spending cuts, notwithstanding the GOP's pre-election promises to cut $100 billion in the first year alone.

It is truly IMPOSSIBLE to believe that the Congress is unable to find cuts that are any larger than .8% or .9% of the budget. Sure, sure, lots of money is taken up by debt service and entitlements -- but there are plenty of bureaucrats sitting fat and happy in the federal government who should be seeing their salaries cut, or their (nonessential) jobs terminated, like their brethren in the private sector. (Want to watch federal employee unions support entitlement reform? Present it as the alternative to massive job losses among their ranks).

If the GOP Congress cannot make real progress on spending cuts now, it will only grow more difficult later. They will pay an electoral price for failure. And they will deserve to.