So somehow the news that Bush's government and the republicans are cutting the deficit got through my devout desire to not see what they are doing.

It's kind of like not going to check on Mia and Maika when they are playing quietly. Of course it's dangerous, of course I'll likely have to go later on and clean up a huge mess, but I prefer to ignore it for the time being.

I was watching the new sitcom Four Kings on tv (because one of the stars is Seth Green, formerly the werewolf on Buffy) and one of the characters is democrat and the other republican. They fight.

The democrat accuses of the republican of not caring about the sick, the weak, or the elderly. The Republican calls the government "bloated."

So then I come up against this "bloated" concept in an Oregon Live news clipping:

"American families understand that the best most effective way to operate is not always the most expensive," said Rep. Roy Blunt, R-Mo., the majority whip."

He is talking about the bill Bush is about to sign into being that cuts the deficit by cutting healthcare and education.

Yeah, that sounds like a good idea. It makes sense that having a leaner government is more important than say, granny getting her medicine or young Susie going to college.

These two areas: education and healthcare, are the two most spectacularly sad areas in the States as compared to like the rest of the industrialized world. Living in Japan really spoiled me. Children get free healthcare, free shots, etc. Education is so very much a given that it isn't whether you will go to school, but a question of where.

And all this, brought to you by the government and President who flaunt their Christianity? How is it possible to call yourself Christian and CUT SPENDING ON SOCIAL WELFARE? What part of "love thy neigbhor as thyself" the life of Jesus or "it will be easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than a rich man go to heaven?" do they NOT understand?

Give me a break. Yes, he toots the Christian horn, but do you see GW in church?

"Amy Sullivan writes for The New Republic:

Bush is one of the most explicitly religious politicians in American history. Both of his presidential campaigns have used religion to appeal emotionally to voters. The entire philosophy behind his signature slogan, "compassionate conservatism," rests on the belief that religious communities have a unique ability to tend to the nation's social ills. And yet, after the flood of coverage around Bush's first--and only--visit to a neighborhood church during inauguration weekend in Washington, D.C., no one has bothered to report on the president's whereabouts on Sunday mornings. "

Hmmm, very suspicious.