There’s a very Alice-in-Wonderland feel to Nancy Pelosi’s whole oped celebrating the last Congress’s “accomplishments,” but here’s my candidate for the most ridiculous statement in the oped:



And we did all of this while restoring fiscal discipline to the Congress by making the pay-as-you-go rules the law of the land.


If ever there was evidence that “making the pay-as-you-go rules the law of the land” has nothing to do with actually restoring fiscal discipline, this Congress was it.


Yes, the President and Congressional Leaders crowed about how responsible they were for creating a rule that, in theory, forces Congress to make cuts or raise revenue for each new spending item,. But immediately after the signing ceremony, they promptly began waiving PAYGO rules.


Does anyone remember how they eviscerated Senator Jim Bunning for daring to try to employ PAYGO rules during the passage of another, very expected, round of unemployment benefit extensions? This was a Congress that may have talked-the-talk of budget rules, but it rarely walked-the-walk (and in fact, failed to even initiate the budget process for 2011).


The deficit for 2010 was nearly $1.3 trillion.  That’s some accomplishment, Nancy.


Bankrupting America summed it up well: “PAYGO often comes with the feel-good slogan “No more deficit spending!” But since its most recent implementation in 2007, the deficit has exploded – from $160 billion in 2007, to $1.29 trillion in 2010.”


If these were Congress’s accomplishments, no wonder voters voted them out.