That's hard to believe...

I suppose if you say something often enough, some people might start to believe it. I suppose you might even start to believe it yourself. For the next couple of months, we are going to hear a lot of Republican candidates tell us we need to elect them to office so that they can stop the runaway spending we are presently experiencing. I think some of them actually believe that we didn't have runaway spending when they were in charge.

Wes Benedict, up at the National Libertarian Party Headquarters made this observation about one of the GOP's go-to heroes:

"As the 2010 election approaches, a lot of Republican politicians are trying to posture as government-cutters, and they often hold up Ronald Reagan as an example.

But although Reagan often talked about supporting smaller government, most Libertarians know that in practice he did exactly the opposite. For example:

*Reagan boosted import tariffs and trade restrictions.

*Reagan cut marginal income tax rates, but he also raised Social Security taxes.

*Reagan increased farm subsidies.

*Reagan sent the federal debt through the roof.

*Federal spending under Reagan grew from $678 billion to $1.14 trillion.

*Reagan set the record for the highest average spending as a percent of GDP over his administration. (Obama may beat him.)

Many people are complaining right now about unemployment under Barack Obama. In the first 18 months of Obama's presidency, unemployment has increased from 7.7 percent to 9.5 percent.

Did you know that during the first 18 months of Reagan's presidency, unemployment increased from 7.5 percent to 9.8 percent? That's even worse, but I don't hear a lot of Republicans mentioning it."

I got a fundraising letter that my Republican opponent for the District 54 Representative seat, Tom Saunders, sent out the other day. In it, he says that he relies on friends and fellow Republicans to help buy the paper, envelopes and stamps for his campaign. Here's where most of the $207,033.00 he spent on his 2006 campaign came from:

HOUSE REPUBLICAN CAMPAIGN CMTE OF INDIANA $64,480
INDIANA CHAMBER OF COMMERCE $40,300
INDIANA ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS $5,000
BUSINESS FURNITURE LLC $5,000
FRIENDS OF DAVID YOUNT $4,400
INDIANA REPUBLICAN PARTY $3,505
INDIANA FARM BUREAU $3,000
FEHSENFELD, BARBARA J $3,000
INDIANA CABLE TELECOMMUNICATIONS ASSOCIATION $2,250
THE SIX-PAC $2,000
CITIZENS FOR WORKING COMM $2,000
ROBERTS, TERRI $2,000
MIKE MURPHY CMTE $2,000
CITIZENS FOR WOLKINS $2,000
RANDOLPH COUNTY REPUBLICAN CENTRAL CMTE $1,500
GEO GROUP $1,500
PAUST PRINTERS $1,220 0.59%
INDIANA HOSPITAL ASSOCIATION $1,050
BEVERLY GARD FOR STATE SENATE CMTE $1,000
RANDOLPH COUNTY FARM BUREAU $1000.00

He also promises in the letter to use his friends money to make a strong case for limited government in Indiana. This is the same man who said he was opposed to property tax caps because he didn't want to limit future legislators ability to raise taxes.

I'm not sure what to believe.