Ben Stein Explains It All ... Sort Of

Don't get me wrong, I love Ben Stein. I think he's one of the brightest and most engaging of the talking heads in America today. But his alternative to the "Tea Party" proposal, which he suggests should bring them "back to planet earth" in the end, sounds sensible enough, but still has me scratching my head. It's getting a mixed review from our pal Ed Morrissey as well.

If my credit card debt is about 60 or 70 percent of the limit most of the time, and rarely if ever less than half, never mind down to zero, I'm not in a great position to expect either a higher credit limit or lower interest rates, am I? You can say all you like that comparing my wallet to the United States Treasury is like comparing apples to oranges, but I'll bet dollars to donuts that most Americans will see it the same way, whether there's a Gadsden flag hanging on their front porch or not.

These people seem to forget that these "Tea Party freshman" were elected on a promise: no more taxes, no more deficit, no more debt. Thus they arrived at the supposedly unrealistic "cut, cap, and balance." If these young bucks break their promise in the next couple of days, they won't make it through the next primary back home, no matter how big a share of the pork barrel buffet they bring back home. That's why I think both Ben Stein and Pat Buchanan should both end up going on the stump for the would-be Mister Smiths who cave at the eleventh hour. Let these two explain to the constituents why these poor guys just couldn't help themselves.

How 'bout it, fellas? “Go, Pat, Go!”