Talking Like a Conservative

Republicans, even those opposed to Obama's stimulus deficit spending plan, have seemed to have problems using conservative rhetoric to combat a bill which is such an obvious antithesis to conservative principles.

A recent example comes from the Weekly Standard (emphasis added):

Republicans also have to overcome some of their aversion to government spending. The flaw in the House stimulus bill is not that it spends money. It's that it spends money too slowly, and what money the bill does spend hardly goes to durable public goods. Thus the GOP's job: Shift the direct spending from useless liberal appropriations to constructive and long-lasting conservative projects.

Here's a much better way for conservatives to challenge what SC Governor Mark Sanford calls  a "savior-based economy:"

“A problem that was created by building up of too much debt will not be solved with yet more debt,” Gov. Mark Sanford said Sunday, making a reference to the federal deficit spending that will likely finance the federal stimulus package. [snip]

 “That is quite different than a market-based economy where some rise and some fall but there’s a consequence to making a stupid decision,” Sanford said after pointing to the powers granted to the Treasury Department and the Federal Reserve to help deal with the current economic crisis.

“A lot of people who’ve made some very stupid decisions are being bailed out by the population at large,” he added.

Instead of bailing out failing companies, Sanford told CNN’s John King that the government should let the economy work through the current challenges without intervention.

With a Senate vote on a bloated Democratic spending bill expected this evening, it's not too late to send your last protest message to DC right now.

UPDATE: My good friend Shana helps make my case:

As one of the newest members of the Alabama Republican State Executive Committee, I had the opportunity to attend a party dinner in Montgomery and the privilege to meet the key-note speaker, Governor Sanford. 

There have been assertions from Democrats and Republicans alike that Rush Limbaugh is the current voice of the GOP, but I expressed to Governor Sanford that I disagree.  It is my hope that true, small-government fiscal conservatives such as Mark Sanford will be the prevailing voice now and in the years to come.

UPDATE II: Robert Higgs provides some excellent speaking points at the Christian Science Monitor.  Here's his conclusion:

The US government has shown repeatedly that as an economic manager it is not to be trusted. What we need most are authorities wise enough to follow the dictum, "First, do no harm." The stimulus package will do enormous harm. The huge debt burden it entails, by itself, ought to condemn the measure. America is already drowning in debt. But the measure will also wreak harm in countless other directions by effectively reallocating resources on a grand scale according to political priorities, rather than according to individual preferences and economic rationality. As our history shows, the economy can recover strongly on its own, if only the politicians will stay out of the way.