United Liberty

A recent AP story caught my attention: “GOP governors press Congress to pass stimulus bill.” After caving last year to a $700 billion bailout, the Republicans in Congress appear to be standing firm against Barack Obama’s call to flush another $800 billion down the tubes.

By the way, this is one advantage to having Democrat control in Washington– Republicans will vote against many things they would normally support just because Democrats are sponsoring the ideas.

Well, apparently many Republican governors are rushing in to Washington to shore up George Wallace’s maxim that there’s “not a dime’s worth of difference” between the two major parties.

These GOP governors are putting pressure on their colleagues in Congress to support Obama’s bailout and to make sure they get their fair share of the pork.

One leader of this gubernatorial “Pork Brigade” is, sad to say, Sarah Palin, who became the darling of the Right during the last election. Her campaign rhetoric was filled with traditional Republican jargon: limited government, low taxes, cut spending, personal liberty, etc., etc.

In fact, shortly after the election, Palin spoke at the Republican Governors Association and denounced Washington’s addiction to O.P.M. (pronouncing it “opium”)–Other People’s Money. Below is the YouTube video of her speech. Scroll to the 7 minute marker, then the 23 minute marker to hear the relevant comments.

Amazing how a couple of months can change a politician’s perspective. Any kind of crisis, whether it be health or wealth, tests the quality of our convictions. As for the current economic crisis, we are discovering who are the “fair-weather conservatives” and who are the real believers. Keep your eye on South Carolina’s Mark Sanford. He is building a reputation as a real “Maverick” while Palin, sadly, has her hand out like all the rest.