The Moment of Choice

... but not quite the Moment of Truth. Not yet anyway. The GOP now has the opportunity to truely and fully accept the mantle they tore from the DNC in the '90s, i.e. the big spending, fiscally irresponsible, big governement party.

Yahoo notes:
In closed-door meetings, fiscal conservatives have begged their colleagues not to put the cost of disaster relief on the government credit card for future generations to carry.

Among those who have protested in these private sessions is Rep. Jeff Flake (news, bio, voting record) (R-Ariz.), a fiscal conservative who said his colleagues greeted his suggestion that disaster relief be offset by other cuts with "stone cold silence." He added, "You would have thought I was a Martian."

It is clear that Republican leaders' overwhelming priority at the moment is to project competence and generosity in the aftermath of Katrina. But Rep. Jeb Hensarling (news, bio, voting record) (R-Texas) said Republicans need to have heart-to-heart discussions about adding so much to the nation's debt.

"You can't tell me there aren't places to save a penny or two on the dollar and ship it to relief in Louisiana, Alabama and Mississippi," Hensarling said. "I just don't believe it as I look around."
Conservatives insist that they want to help hurricane victims and are not trying to stop Congress or the president from sending the money that's needed to rebuild. They just say the money should come from cuts in other federal programs.

I linked to Yahoo but similar articles are all over the place. It's a real hand-wringing, dark night of the soul for some, and I encourage it. All the things I've respected about the republicans and all the things I lothe about democrats are, at this moment, in play and the clock is starting to run out. I hope for the sake of the next few generations they manage to resist the easy charm of pocketbook compassion and stick to being the party of fiscal responsibility.

And sometimes that means eating your peas before dessert.