If I have to listen to another Republican complain about how a new Democratic president is just going to raise their taxes and increase the size of government I might just put my foot right up their ass. After all, it’s precisely because of the Republican party, the Republican Congress, and an asshat of a Republican president that our next national leader may indeed have to raise taxes. Somebody has to clean up the country after it’s been crapped on for 8 years.

Consider that when Bush took office the federal government had a budget surplus, and despite way too many pork barrel projects, earmarks were much lower than they are now. But then came a series of tax cuts, an increase in federally mandated spending programs, an unnecessary war, a couple of tax rebate give-aways, and unprecedented borrowing to finance the largest expansion in the federal government in over 50 years. The surplus disappeared. The spending didn’t.

Republicans like to pretend that the only thing Democrats care about is “Big Brother” government. Hah! Bush has presided over the biggest “Big Brother” expansion ever. Republicans think that only Democrats expand the size of government. Hah! Bush has added more government jobs to the federal payroll than probably any other president since FDR. Republicans like to pretend the Democrats will take all your tax dollars and waste them on untested and ineffective social programs that ultimately hurt people more than they help them. Can anyone say No Child Left Behind???

The fact is that Republicans aren’t alone in disliking taxes. Democrats don’t much like them either. But where Democrats can accept the fact that it takes taxes to run government, Republicans only seem to think that taxes are evil.

Here it is kids…no matter who takes over as next president, we are going to have to see a serious reversal in domestic funding policy. That likely means higher taxes and lower spending. Hopefully the next president will get us out of Iraq which would save a serious amount of change. but it won’t be enough, especially in the short term. Especially when our government (both Dems & Reps) think it is wiser to borrow another $150 billion they don’t have to hand out to citizens so they will rush out and spend it. This is an economic stimulus plan? For what? A month? Gee Mr. President (and all the rest of you in Congress), what kind of stimulus plan will we get when that $600 bucks is all gone? Do they really think that peopl e are going to have extra money all the time now that the government sent them a check for a few hundred bucks? The only thing this plan stimulates is the Chinese manufacturing industry and the banks- for about a month.

Of course, in our brave new world, most people don’t give two seconds thought to government finances, just so long as their special interests are being funded.

Fiscal prudence means that not everyone gets everything all of the time. Fiscal malfeasance means that some people get everything they want, most get a bone thrown to them, and behind the scenes the red tape is stacked higher than the Sears Tower.

Well boys and girls, federal spending affects us all, and when you turn over the federal purse to a bunch of failed businessmen and drunken sailors, somebody eventually has to pay. That somebody will be all of us when the next administration gets to town.

So for all of you whining GOPers who are so upset that a Democrat in the White House will raise your taxes, shut up already. YOUR guy put us all in this situation to begin with. Just because he’ll be out of office when the bills come due doesn’t make it any less his fault. If you want to complain, send a letter to Bush. But quit whining to me about it.

(cross posted at Bring It On!)