Texas District 11 Congressman Mike Conaway has become a fiscal conservative now that Republicans have lost majorities in the House and Senate and look forward to four years with a popular Democrat sitting in the White House. What will Republicans do? It looks like they will do the same thing Democrats did when they were in the minority: oppose everything the majority proposes.
What brings this to mind is an item published in the print edition of the Midland Reporter-Telegram Sunday in which Rep. Conaway proclaims that "We cannot speed and borrow our way back to economic prosperity." There he expresses his opposition to the Democrat stimulus bill, and a crucial part of his argument appears at his blog and is worth reading, to wit:
Ronald Reagan once said: “Each generation goes further than the generation preceding it because it stands on the shoulders of that generation. You will have opportunities beyond anything we’ve ever known.” How can I, in good faith, leave the next generation with this giant mess to clean up. We are not only borrowing $825 billion that we do not have now, we are selfishly stripping money away from our children and grandchildren that they should have available to address their issues.
All well and good, but somehow I can't get over the sneaking suspicion that this is merely partisan posturing. Let's put this stimulus bills aside and revisit the recent past. Unfortunately all of that concern about strapping the grand babies with debt was invisible prior to the November '08 election. And some of Mr. Conaway's taxpaying constituents are still smarting over his farm bill which puts millions of taxpayer dollars into the hands of a few wealthy cotton farmers. According to EWG.com people residing within Texas District 11 pocketed $1.47 billion in subsidies in the years 1995-2006.
We're still struggling to understand why Mr. Conaway was so perturbed at President Bush for having the audacity to suggest that perhaps millionaires shouldn't be porking it up in the government trough and how Rep. Conaway cheered the Senate on to override President Bush's veto of that outrageous farm bill.
I wish someone would do the research to help us understand why Mr. Conaway favors that group of corporate welfare recipients so much when surely most of his constituency is on the paying side of the tax equation. Maybe some of that stimulus money could be used to train chauffeur driven conservatives to get by without farm bill welfare.
But enough of this. Let's give him the benefit of the doubt and welcome him to the ranks of the fiscal conservatives.
Also remember that he voted for the $700 billion bailout. He only stands on principle when it is for theater. Freedom and Liberty are at stake
Posted by: zacncat | February 03, 2009 at 08:13 PM
Good point, Zacncat. Maybe it takes being in the minority to bring out a politician's frugal side.
Posted by: Geo | February 04, 2009 at 10:24 AM