GOP Big Tent, Small Government

Now that Senators Ted Stevens (R-Alaska) and Robert Byrd (D-West Virginia) been exposed as placing a hold on a bill to make earmarks transparent, perhaps this legislation will advance. I will credit Illinois Sen. Barack Obama for co-sponsoring this with Republican Tom Coburn, as well as leaders in the blogosphere who have been pushing for this for some time. And the initial reason I started this blog was to protest against the out of control spending in Washington. Latest from Instapundit. Note also the related opinion piece by Stephen Bainbridge, TCS Daily, via RCP, exhorting the GOP to get back to its basics:

Under George Bush, the GOP has largely stopped even pretending to talk the talk. Instead, Bush's two terms have brought us: a massive increase in government entitlements; renewed fiscal deficits; a worsening trade deficit; huge spending increases; bigger government; more intrusive government. The GOP therefore needs to talk about these issues. They have to persuade the American people either that the war is so important that nothing else matters or that the GOP can both win the war on terror and get back to its sound fiscal roots.

This is the big-tent of the GOP, the broad appeal of the party of Main St., of smaller government and economic opportunity.