About a month ago, I wrote a post critical of Rep. Jim Matheson based on his vote to raise the US debt ceiling for the second time in less than 6 months.  Defenders of the irresponsible spending were quick to jump to Congresses defense with cries of "but, but....they passed PAYGO".  At the time I quickly dismissed those defenses and this editorial from Scripps Howard News Service is a great summation of why I was so dismissive of "The PAYGO Fraud".

When a White House statement refers to a "bedrock principle," it means something slushy and soft and not really a principle at all, but a gimmick, still one more fraud to fool the public, a joke of the kind that must keep presidential aides rolling on the floor in laughter at all the fools who cheer them on.

The "principle" referred to was what would bind Congress if it passed a pay-as-you go law: It could then "only spend a dollar if it saves a dollar elsewhere." But when the legislation actually became law and Sen. Jim Bunning of Kentucky tried to have Congress observe its provisions, the Democrats were outraged and Vice President Joe Biden portrayed the Republican in one reported interview as inhumane.

At a cost of $10 billion, the legislation extended unemployment and Cobra health benefits. Fine, said Bunning. Let's do this thing. But first, under this new law, we either have to cut some equivalent cost or raise taxes to pay for it, he said. At this point came the deluge: Biden, Democratic members of Congress and lefty commentators all over the lot carried on about how he was going to make families suffer for the sake of, well, in so many words, his ideological idiocy and lack of compassion.

He was doing no such thing, of course, and it wasn't his fault either when the government said it would find the money for these new benefits by furloughing federal workers with no compensation and would stop reimbursing state highway projects. This move was a despicable ploy to put pressure on Bunning instead of admitting the truth that those standing in the way of the benefits were those reneging on a promise to abide by the White House-enunciated, "bedrock" paygo principle.

Now Republicans have had their own PAYGO issues - we established that during the Bush Administration.  The fun thing is watching everyone on the left who was up in arms about how we couldn't afford this program or that program proposed by the Bush Administration  because look at how far in the hole we are spending wise....we need PAYGO to balance the budget.  Then when it comes time to spend on their pet projects it's "PAYGO - what PAYGO?????"

I said a month ago that PAYGO was a scam and Sen. Bunning pointed that out last week.  The American people are sitting up and paying attention to what this Congress is up to and they are not happy with the job Congress is doing.  That will translate into votes in the fall.  Touting PAYGO then and ignoring it now, will do nothing to help them in November.  Of that we can be sure.