Senator Scott Brown, under fire from Massachusetts Democrats over his stand on the extension of unemployment insurance benefits, took to You Tube to explain his position. And by goodness I find myself agreeing with the Senator on paying for the extension and not just adding another $12 billion to the national deficit. But then I think about his position on extension of the Bush tax cuts for top earners, which would add $750 BILLION to the national deficit, and I look for his insistence on paying for that through budgetary offsets. But that is not his position. He believes that you ought to add $750 billion to the deficit for a permanent extension of those tax cuts, but has drawn a line in the sand over this $12 billion for the unemployed.

As I mentioned in yesterday’s post it is time for the grown ups to take over the discussion, and get some real business done. The President and Democrats ought to agree to find offsets for this extension and move the bill and help people that need the assistance now. But the Republicans ought to man up and make specific proposals on how to fund the tax cuts for people making over $250,000. Since they are for cutting spending and reducing the size of government they should not be allowed to insist on offsets only for bills that they pick and choose. Going back to a strict pay-go system would force Washington pols of both parties to cut out the nonsense and act as responsible fiscal stewards. Senator Brown, you almost had me. But consistency in the application of principle shows all of us that the principle is deeply held, and not just a fig leaf. So far your position on this extension fails that test.