Melancon again paints stripes on horse, calls it zebra

Rep. Charlie Melancon’s career as a legal, publicly-employed con man continues apace with his crowing about his support and passage of a bill that claims it will introduce fiscal discipline into Congress when it actually will end up doing the opposite.

Democrat Melancon’s federally-elected career has consisted of trying to convince voters he is one thing even as he acts differently. Perhaps the greatest fiction he has perpetrated on his constituents is he supports fiscally conservative government, with the final nail on the coffin to that lie he struck earlier this year his by supporting Pres. Barack Obama’s massive spending increases and sounding foolish in doing so when giving excuses as to why he did that.

But Melancon also apparently believes that if you tell a lie often enough, enough people will think it is true, so his latest sortie to shore up his image has come with the passage of H.R. 2920 which would mean that Congress, whenever it increases spending in select areas or cuts taxes in select areas, that any reduction in revenue must be accompanied by a reduction in spending. Prior to its passage helped with his vote, Melancon proclaimed “If we do not begin paying our bills today, we will continue to short-change future generations ….Our federal government simply cannot continue to live beyond its means, mortgaging our future on the backs of our children and grandchildren,” and suggested it as a solution.

The hypocrisy of Melancon, braying loudly about deficit spending when only months ago he voted to increase that deficit by trillions on top of another trillion or so dollars over the previous few years, is obvious. Less so is the fact that the bill basically does little to put deficit spending under control. Not only do the substantial loopholes exist that exempts several areas but without any cap at all on spending some 40 percent of annual appropriations is unaffected by any limits. The Congressional Budget Office estimates that the bill praised by Melancon could allow a $3 trillion increase in deficits over the next decade. And waivers can be passed to exempt anything.

In other words, its practical effect renders it nothing more that a public relations stunt, designed to give cover to those like Melancon who pose as fiscal conservatives but in reality are big spending liberals. It's a sham palliative he hopes will hide the fact he is incompletely closing the barn door after the massive deficit horse has fled with his assistance -- a horse he has painted stripes on to call it a zebra. As he contemplates a run for the U.S. Senate or to seek reelection to his House post, this camouflage Melancon would find very helpful. But recognize this smokescreen for what it is, yet another pathetic attempt to fool the people.