New article on Nussle

The Des Moinest Register has a feature article today on Jim Nussle and how he intends to defend his budget role in the 2006 race for Iowa governor.

Defend his role? HAH! It really is indefensible.

The man has declared himself a budget hawk and fiscal conservative over and over again while completely neglecting those duties as House Budget Committee Chairman from 2001 to the present.

Part of that lack of principle can be explained by the Register:

"Nussle's transformation from the youngest member of Congress in 1991 to a confidant of President Bush and chairman of an influential committee is the product of a conscientious effort, said Norm Ornstein, a scholar with the independent think tank American Enterprise Institute."

Confidant of President Bush explains it all. Nevermind that AEI isn't independent, either.

The fact his, he compromised his so-called principles the minute he got a hold of the President's ear.

Look, there are lots of reasons why the people of Iowa don't need Jim Nussle as governor. The biggest one is his lack of committment to his principles when it comes to budgeting. When you've got the ear of a big politico and higher aspirations, you get bogged down with those nifty dreams in your head and you forget what you came to do.

Nussle tries to point out in the interview that the deficit is decreasing thanks to revenue increases thanks to the Bush tax cuts, which he supported. The fact is, that no matter how much extra revenue we'll get in tax income it will never be enough to get us out of the debt that the unwise spending President Bush (with the tacit assistance of Jim Nussle) has engaged upon.

The fact is, Nussle is just the wrong man for the job.