Former Bush Speechwriter: "Fiscal Discipline Is Not A Top Priority" for Blunt
Former George W. Bush speechwriter Marc Thiessen skewers Roy Blunt and his fellow GOP candidates who have rediscovered the ideas of fiscal discipline and balanced budgets now that they've lost power and are campaigning for promotions based on their records. In an introduction to his new Washington Post op-ed on the blog of the American Enterprise Institute, Thiessen describes Blunt as a 2010 candidate "for whom fiscal discipline is not a top priority." And in the Post, Thiessen points out the obvious about Blunt's record in Washington:
Blunt has been a prolific earmarker during his 12 years in Congress. In 2010 alone, he has requested $153 million in earmarks -- prompting Carnahan to swear off all earmarks in a bid to get to the right of Blunt on fiscal issues. Carnahan campaigns as if she were the Tea Party candidate, accusing Blunt of having "become famous for his pork-barrel spending" and calling him a "prodigious porkmeister." This month, Blunt responded with an ad promising he would vote as a fiscal conservative in the Senate: "Irresponsible spending and crippling debt are killing jobs today and our children's future tomorrow. That's wrong and I'll fight to change it."
