Window Dressing

Democrats in the Senate have proven that President Obama’s proposed budget cuts, which represent his attempts at fiscal sanity, are nothing but smoke and mirrors with no chance of implementation:

Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), has helped force a series of votes this week exposing splits between the president and Democrats on small but nettlesome questions.

The bus program termination — a very modest initiative by Obama — was blocked 51-47 on Tuesday. A second amendment, initiated by Sen. Russ Feingold (D-Wis.) and co-sponsored by McCain, would have struck millions in earmarks opposed by the president. It failed 60-38 on Wednesday, with just 12 Democrats and Connecticut independent Sen. Joe Lieberman backing Obama from his side of the aisle.

McCain taunted: “The Senate just voted against the president of the United States. There are 60 votes over there,” he said, pointing to the Democratic side of the chamber. “We could not get 51.”

Terminating the bus program alone could have saved taxpayers $12 million a year. Instead, Congressional Democrats continued to choose the politics of spend and borrow, and tax.