George sent me a link to a damned good question, asked by Cortunix: Why would anyone still take Republicans seriously at this day and age? This in turn leads us to Joseph Palermo’s exasperated plea, which I would like to echo:

Republicans: Spare Me Your Newfound “Fiscal Responsibility”

At his press conference on Monday, President Barack Obama had to remind Mara Liasson of Fox News and NPR that it was the Republicans who doubled the national debt over the past eight years and it’s a little strange to be hearing lectures from them now about how to be fiscally responsible. That interchange was my favorite part of the press conference. A savvy inside-the-Beltway reporter of Ms. Liasson’s caliber shouldn’t have to be reminded that George W. Bush and the Republican Congress were among the most fiscally reckless politicians in U.S. history.

The most inexcusable action the Republican Congress and the Bush administration took vis-à-vis the federal budget was to launch two wars and two open-ended occupations without raising one dime in revenues to pay for them. Never in the history of this country has an administration and Congress cut taxes while launching open-ended wars.

Bush and the Republican Congress didn’t think twice before throwing the entire $850 billion price tag for the Iraq and Afghanistan wars right onto the national debt. Not only did they refuse to pass new “revenue enhancements” to pay for the wars, but they also fought tooth and nail to block any legislation that would raise revenues. They didn’t budge an inch on repealing the totally irresponsible Bush tax cuts of 2001 that immediately ballooned the deficit before 9-11. Any “conservative” administration and Congress (one would think) would either raise taxes to pay for their new wars or at least roll back the tax cuts they enacted upon seizing power. In 2008, John McCain campaigned on making the Bush tax cuts permanent.

So pardon me for not being moved when I hear Mitch McConnell, John McCain, Jon Kyl, Lindsey Graham, John Boehner, and other Washington Republicans (along with the Right’s echo chamber) whining and griping about the “excessive spending” in the stimulus bill and the effects it will have on the national debt.

Noooo shit.

Hey, Cons – try to wrap your infinitesimal minds around this number:

That’s how much credibility you have.