Mass's Journal - Centrist Dems Start Rebelling on Obama's Spending Plans

Who needs the GOP when we have Bluedog Democrats and Senate centrists? (Ok, rebel may be strong, but definitively skirmish and ready to make sure spending is limited).

http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2009/03...

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Before the budget even comes to a vote, however, the 2009 spending bill must be taken care of -- and one of those centrist Dems, Evan Bayh (IN), is urging Obama to veto the $410 billion measure in a Wall Street Journal op-ed today. From Bayh's piece (emphasis mine):

The omnibus debate is not merely a battle over last year's unfinished business, but the first indication of how we will shape our fiscal future. Spending should be held in check before taxes are raised, even on the wealthy. Most people are willing to do their duty by paying taxes, but they want to know that their money is going toward important priorities and won't be wasted.

Does that fiscal-discipline argument against the spending bill sound familiar? Ah, right, House Republicans made it last week. Also, could someone remind Bayh that he voted against the Bush tax cuts that he's now unwilling to see expire?

Late Update: You could've seen this coming, but Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) was so pleased with Bayh's op-ed that he formally inserted it into the Congressional Record this morning. From McConnell's speech:

As the junior senator from Indiana put it this morning in an insightful Op-Ed piece in the Wall Street Journal, this bill was drafted last year, and 'Since then, economic and fiscal circumstances have changed dramatically which is why' -- as he put it -- 'the Senate should go back to the drawing board.'

Hopefully, Bayh is proud to give McConnell ammunitions. And, while he is the only one quoted in this piece, he is of course not the only one who is skirmish. According to this Politico piece, the usual suspects are in the plot.

+ Claire .McCaskill, Marc Begich, Mark Warner of Virginia, Bill Nelson of Florida, Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota, Mark Pryor of Arkansas, Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire, Robert P. Casey Jr. of Pennsylvania, and Blanche L. Lincoln of Arkansas, as well as Joseph I. Lieberman (I-Conn.).