PRO-AUSTERITY? WHO? US?

According to Politico's lead story today, Paul Ryan's star has fallen this year as he's knuckled down to his job in the House; folks like Marco Rubio and Rand Paul seem to be getting all the 2016 buzz.

Part of the reason for Ryan's buzz decline, Politico tells us, is that he and his budgets are identified with (ick!) austerity. Did you know that the GOP is totally over its austerity thing? Well, it's true!

There's a growing desire on the part of Republicans to move away from the Washington wing of the party and the sort of austerity politics with which the congressional GOP has come to be defined.

Look at the remarks from individuals like Jeb Bush, Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal and even Romney's remarks at CPAC: They all are nudging Republicans away from their spending fixation toward a growth orientation their governors personify.

"We must not become the party of austerity," says Jindal in his speeches. "We must become the party of growth."

... it isn't just them -- it's happening in Congress, too. Consider House Majority Leader Eric Cantor’s recent effort at Republican rebranding, focusing on aspirational issues like education, and Rubio’s moves on immigration and college affordability.

Did you know this? Did you know that austerity was so last year as far as the GOP is concerned?

Of course, what the GOP is really trying to get away from is not austerity -- it's the perception of being the party of austerity. The GOP is still selling the same damn vulpine economic policies; it's just trying to dress them up in "Growth"-brand sheep's clothing.

So, yes, Bobby Jindal did seem to disdain austerity in a January speech. However, he said that a month or so after this:

Gov. Bobby Jindal's administration will announce $129 million in budget cuts Friday aimed at making up a revenue shortfall in the past six months of the state's fiscal year. The cuts are expected to fall heaviest on the state's higher education and health care systems, which have already seen significant cuts in recent years....

With this round of cuts, Jindal will have enacted mid-year budget reductions in each of his five years in office in response to revenue shortfalls. And, based on another set of revised projections approved Thursday, next year's state budget, which was already facing a nearly $1 billion shortfall could be about $207 million tighter....

"The only thing that's off the table is raising taxes," [Commissioner of Administration Kristy] Nichols said....

And, um, Eric Cantor is upset at being identified with austerity? Then maybe he ought to take this down from his Web site:





But if the GOP is going to engage in a totally phony rebranding effoert, then, dammit, Politico's going to catapult the propaganda. So I should just shut up and eat the spin.