Buyer's Remorse

John McCain's rant on the Senate floor against the earmarks we have been forced to swallow lately was right on target. His frustration was exactly what many Americans have been feeling as we railed against the Porkulus bill, the Omnibus bill and the budget. The Tea Party protests around the country have not been without notice. Some folks, but not quite enough yet, are even expressing "buyer's remorse" with regard to Mr. Obama.

McCain called out Obama over the earmarks. He quoted Mr. Obama's line from the debate in Oxford:

“'We need earmark reform and when I’m president, I will go line by line to make sure we’re not spending money unwisely.' That’s the quote, the promise of the president of the United States made to the American people in a debate with me in Oxford, Miss. So what is brought to the floor today — 9,000 earmarks.…So much for change.”

You can hardly blame him for being angry; the earmarks are ridiculous. This was the bill that had funding for tattoo removal for gang members, promotion of astronomy in Hawaii, lobster research, Mormon cricket research, seals in Maine, and termite research in New Orleans, just to name a few.

McCain dismissed budget director Peter Orszag's remark that "this is last year's business" and that the president is ready to "move on." McCain rightly points out that THIS president will sign it, so it is THIS president's responsibility. At a time when the economy is tanking and people are losing jobs, this spending is nothing short of an insult to the American people, so no wonder McCain is a tad riled up.

He is not the only one riled up. Fox News reports Cuban born Senator Mel Martinez (R.-FL.) isn't happy either. The Omnibus bill eases restrictions on travel to Cuba and extends credit for increased trade to the island nation, all moves that Martinez says will not benefit the Cuban people as the measure exacts no positive actions in return.

"'As we consider changing U.S. policy toward Cuba, why are we doing this without asking anything?" Martinez implored his colleagues, suggesting that the U.S. should, for example, demand the release of political prisoners."

Former Obama supporter David Brooks is now saying of the budget,

"So programs are piled on top of each other and we wind up with a gargantuan $3.6 trillion budget. We end up with deficits that, when considered realistically, are $1 trillion a year and stretch as far as the eye can see. We end up with an agenda that is unexceptional in its parts but that, when taken as a whole, represents a social-engineering experiment that is entirely new. "

And Christopher "Sorry Dad, I'm Voting For Obama" Buckley is expressing doubts:

"The strange thing is that one feels almost unpatriotic, entertaining negative thoughts about Mr. Obama’s grand plan, as if one were indulging in—call it—the audacity of nope. It is on the one hand clear that something must be done about our economic woes. But that is very different from saying that spending these vast, oceanic sums of money is the right corrective to a decade of fiscal incontinence."

It all begs the question, how much will the American people take before the revolution begins? You're going to suggest it's "too early" to pass judgment, aren't you? How long should I wait, then? Until the stock market hits 3,000? Until our health care system has been dismantled, destroyed and dominated by harsh socialistic regulations? Until the tax rate hits 55 or 60% on all of us? Until my energy costs triple because of the cap and trade restrictions? Until terrorists, encouraged by our ever weakening stance on terrorism, come calling?

Can I pass judgment then? Or am I supposed to keep "hoping" for the best?