Republicans advance agenda in Washington

From the WashPost: “On Capitol Hill, A Flurry of GOP Victories - Key Measures Advance After Long Delays”

After years of partisan impasses and legislative failures, Congress in a matter of hours yesterday passed or advanced three far-reaching bills that will allocate billions of dollars and set new policies for guns, roads and energy.
The measures sent to President Bush for his signature will grant $14.5 billion in tax breaks for energy-related matters and devote $286 billion to transportation programs, including 6,000 local projects, often called "pork barrel" spending. The Senate also passed a bill to protect firearms manufacturers and dealers from various lawsuits. The House is poised to pass it this fall.

Not to throw cold water on this state of affairs, but it’s easy to spend money. It seems infinitely more difficult to stop or even slightly slow down the pace of spending in Congress. Social Security reform may still pass, but when Congress can’t even slow the rate of growth of Medicaid, it’s not a promising proposition.

Extra – McQ on Q&O had the same reaction: “Porking up the so-called budget.”