In a post on Pajamas Media’s main page in October 2008, Tom Blumer provided a chart which helps us understand why we’re in the fiscal situation we are today:

Federal outlays already increasing at a rapid pace with Republican Congresses increased at an even more rapid pace when Nancy Pelosi took over as House Speaker and Harry Reid, thanks to a new crop of Democratic Senators, elected with the help of then-chair of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, Charles Schumer, became Senate majority leader.

Now that very same Mr. Schumer is whining that conservatives are to blame for an imminent government shutdown:

“What we have here is a flea, wagging a tail, wagging a dog,” said Schumer, chairman of the Senate Democratic Policy Committee.

“The flea are the minority of House Republicans who are hard right, the tail is the House Republican caucus, and the dog is the government,” Schumer explained. “That flea is influencing what the dog does … and it is sad.”

Schumer for more than a week has been arguing that Tea Party conservatives will be to blame if there is a shutdown.

(Via Ann Althouse.)  Sorry, Charlie, the reason Tea Party conservatives have such clout is because their outrage at the increasing size of the federal government has resonated with the American people, leading to the election of Republican legislators (and at least one Senate Democrat) who want to hold the line on spending.

If Americans had the facts, they won’t blame House Speaker John Boehner, but instead hold Democrats to account for the shutdown.  Nick Gillespie reminds us why Congress is still voting on their FY2011 budget — six full months after that fiscal year began:  Democrats “utterly failed to pass a fricking budget last year even though they controlled the White House, the Senate, and the House of Representatives.”  (Via Instapundit.) (more…)

If you want to know what I call Washington Post blogress the “Jewish Athena,” all you need do is check her piece today on the departure of Glenn Beck from Fox News:

It is entirely fitting that he should leave this week. This week belonged to the grownups in the conservative movement. Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) emerged as the most serious lawmaker on the national stage and as a symbol of an innovative, brainy conservative resurgence. He put out a budget that was, unlike hysterical critics, principled and serious.

This was also House Speaker John Boehner’s week. He consolidated his caucus, came up with an unassailable short-term budget-extension proposal, kept his powder dry when President Obama fumbled (by issuing a veto threat with no backup plan) and outfoxed Sen. Majority Leader Harry Reid. He will emerge with a substantive win for his party and the respect of his caucus.

Read the whole thing!

She also commends Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) for showing some leadership.  With Ryan and Boehner, we see two of the types of leadership we need in order to advance conservative ideas and shrink the size of government.  Ryan, the wonk, the thinker, puts a sensible reforms and Boehner, the process guy, shows he knows how to push such reforms through the “system.”

Much as Ronald Reagan needed a diverse array of advisors, James A. Baker who knew how to work the levers of Washington institutions, Ed Meese who understood conservative ideas and Mike Deaver who knew how to present his man and his ideas to a sometimes-skeptical public, so too do conservatives today need a variety of leaders to push our agenda.

Looks like we have three in Ryan, Boehner and Rubio!

Welcome Instapundit Readers!!

WIth the Waukesha County Clerk, Democrat** Kathy Nickolaus reporting on Thursday “that she failed to save in her computer and then report 14,315 votes in the city of Brookfield, omitting them entirely in an unofficial tally released after Tuesday’s election,” Republican David Prosser surged to an almost insurmountable lead in the race for chief justice of the Wisconsin Supreme Court.

As I blogged* yesterday, I had expected a loss in this race.  Democrats and their allies on the left seemed more organized and energized.  They were hoping to use any means necessary to undo Governor Walker’s reforms.  They wanted Republicans to pay a cost for pushing conservative reforms.  A victory for JoAnne Kloppenburg would remind Republicans that they still hadn’t convinced the people, at least in Wisconsin, of the merits of their ideas — and that they need to constantly be playing offense because politics is a livelihood for many on the left, particularly those whose livelihood depends on taxpayer largesse.

But, even with Democrats fired up and their union allies digging dip into their coffers to elect Kloppenburg, the Republican pulled out a modest victory in this light blue state.  It seems that the 2010 elections were not an aberration, but perhaps part of a trend.

That said, Michael Barone contends, “This result was closer than it should be.”  Republican shouldn’t rest on their laurels and must realize that we need be better organized if we’re going avoid such close calls in the future as we build upon our gains and elect candidates serious about cutting the size of government and reducing its scope. (more…)