Do as I say, not as I do

Today's entry is kind of a collection of thoughts that I needed to share.

If there were one thing that ticked me off about government, oh how I wish there were only one thing, it would be hypocrisy.

It comes from both sides. Both Democrats and Republican's each trying to make themselves look better by saying the other side does something -- but then never sharing that they do the same thing.

Republican's love to spout about how they have such great fiscal responsibility and that Democrats want to spend us into the poor house. But they never mention that since 1978, the federal debt has grown 4.2% under Democratic Presidents, but 36.4% under Republican Presidents. During that same time, federal spending increased 9.9% under Democratic Presidents and 12.1% under Republican Presidents. So it is actually the Democrats that spend less, not the Republicans.

To be fair, it is estimated that Obama's policies will increase the national debt by the largest amount ever, but 1) he is trying dig the country out a huge financial hole by putting the burden on the government rather than Joe the plumber and 2) since Reagan, the only time the debt to GDP ratio has dropped was during Clinton's second term.

I just don't see how Republicans can say they are so fiscally responsible when they always spend more than Democrats.

I saw a comment recently where Cheney was listing out things we've learned about Obama in his first year. One of the things he said was that we learned Obama will not govern from the center. This would seem to indicate that Cheney wants the President to be a moderate. But, is he actually suggesting that he and George W. Bush governed from the center? Does he believe the Tea Party movement, which represents about 10% of the country, is 'the center'?

And speaking of Cheney. I distinctly recall him calling people unamerican for criticizing President Bush's policies during a time of war. Yet he rarely misses an opportunity to do just that with President Obama.

In the past couple weeks there has been much talk about how Rahm Emanuel used the R-word in a meeting. Sarah Palin continues to call for his resignation. Rush Limbaugh then used the word 40 times while speaking about the incident, but in that case Sarah Palin claimed he was using satire so it was okay.

To me you are either against something or you are not. You cannot be against it when it suits you. And how do you explain the recent Family Guy incident? The Family Guy had an episode where Chris was dating a girl with Down Syndrome. There was a crack about her being the daughter of the former governer of Alaska and there was a song that could be considered bad taste. First of all, the Family Guy is known for skewering everyone they can. I have never heard Sarah Palin come to anyone else's aid. In this case, her Facebook page says she was so mad that she had Bristol issue a statement. But wait. Wasn't the Family Guy using Satire? I thought that was okay? I am confused.

And what about her being so mad that she had her daughter issue the statement. What does that say about her mental state if she were President and she gets a call at say 3am? Shouldn't the President be unflappable?

Then there is John McCain. During the campaign a question was asked of what does he despise the most in Washington. His answer, Hippocrisy. Right on John. I hear ya. There is nothing I despise more either. But then why is it that during the campaign he also said he would consider abolishing "don't ask, don't tell" if the senior leaders of the military recommended it, but now that they have actually made the recommendation he not only is not considering it, he feels it is a travesty and must be stopped?

Lest I be accused of piling up on Republicans, I do have a piece of Democratic hippocrisy that I wish share. Partisanship is a major issue in Congress right now. It is actually the only issue because until members of Congress actually start working together, nothing will be done. President Obama had a meeting with Republican's and they put together a jobs bill that included many things the Republican's wanted. When it got to the Senate, Harry Reid immediately scrapped it and went with a Democratic bill. Uh. Harry? If you want bipartisan support for anything, then it is best if you do not stomp on anything that comes from the other party -- especially if it was also put together by the Democratic President.

All that being said, I have just one thing to say. Members of Congress, please shut up. You were hired to do a job. That job is to work together, find middle ground, and move the country forward. How about you just shut your mouths for a little while and actually get something done.

Good day.