Do We Even Need To Be Told this?

What did Bush Learn in '05? That the American people really like their Social Security and Medicare in its current, semi-socialist, state.....

The New Republic:

The Right's Real Fear: People Will Like the Spending

Republicans express rhetorical fear that the Democrats have passed a “Porkulus” bill. Their real fear is the opposite: that stimulus provides an opportunity for Democrats to enact appealing measures that will be politically painful to reverse. They are right to worry. Once we start subsidizing COBRA benefits and support other people in pain, it will be difficult, politically and morally, to shut things off. As House Republican staffers put it:

…[P]rovisions in H.R. 1 appear to have artificial funding cliffs: temporary spending increases that lead to abrupt, and sharp, spending reductions after 2 years. Due to immense pressure that will mount to maintain the H.R. 1 funding levels in these programs, the reductions are highly unlikely to occur.