So Much For That Spending Cap You Thought You Were Getting April 24, 2012

The United States Senate continues to live up to its reputation as one of the most irresponsible legislative bodies in the history of the universe.

Remember that debt limit increase last summer? Yeah, the one in which Democrats agreed to put a cap on future spending?

Forget about. It's not happening.

And while we have excoriated Harry Reid in the past for his irresponsbile behavior, this time it's bipartisan.

Whereas the agreement last summer was to increase discretionary spending by no more than $7 billion, the Senate has just voted to increase it $34 billion for the Post Office.

The same Post Office which forces you to wait in line for 20 minutes while a private company like The UPS Store can usually provide you with customer service as soon as you walk in the door.

Do the math. That $34 billion represents a 386% increase over the agreed-upon amount.

And these people wonder why their approval rating is almost as low as John Edwards?

And PowerLine gives us the lesson-learned: "One principal lesson can be drawn from this experience. It happens all the time that Congressional leaders will trumpet a budget agreement that allegedly saves the taxpayers trillions of dollars — not now, of course, but in the 'out years.' But the out years never come. Tax increases are rarely deferred to the out years; they take place now, when it counts. But spending cuts? Never today, always tomorrow."

Too true. It's Lucy with the football every time.

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