A Fiscal Conservative's Dream

The Senate passed a budget that has spending cuts and allows drilling in ANWAR. That sound you heard was millions of fiscal conservatives clinking beer mugs together:

WASHINGTON, Nov. 3 - The Senate on Thursday narrowly approved a sweeping five-year plan to trim a variety of federal benefit programs and to allow drilling for oil and natural gas in a wilderness area of Alaska, increasing the chances that the energy industry and Alaska officials will achieve a long-sought goal.

The budget bill, the most ambitious effort to curb federal spending in eight years, was approved by a vote of 52 to 47. Five Republicans opposed the measure; two Democrats voted for it.

Senator Judd Gregg, Republican of New Hampshire, the chairman of the Senate Budget Committee, said, "This bill is a reflection of the Republican Congress's commitment to pursue a path of fiscal responsibility."

It will, Mr. Gregg said, reduce the deficit and save roughly $35 billion over the next five years.
Democrats said the savings would disappear and the deficit would increase if Republicans carried out their plan to cut taxes by $70 billion later this year.

The Senate Democratic leader, Harry Reid of Nevada, called the budget "an immoral document" that "harms vulnerable Americans to provide another round of large tax breaks for the elite of this country, special interests and multimillionaires."

Such populist rhetoric, Harry.

Spending cuts and lower taxes have been shown repeatedly to bolster the economy. Does Senator Reid really believe that at there isn't at least $35 billion in wasteful spending alone that can be cut?

As for drilling in ANWAR, I'm in the environmental business and know that we have the capability of performing these types of services with minimal environmental impact. 20 years ago, this was not the case. We have come a long way in that regard.

The greatest benefit will be the lessening of reliance on foreign oil, which in turn gets us out of the mideast.