You know, it’s interesting. I had always been leaning towards the Republican side, being more conservative with many things, but have never considered myself to be of a particular party. I applaud the Republicans for recognizing what does need to get done in Iraq. We invaded the country, shut down infrastructure and security for the first two years, and now we need to assist in reconstruction and restaging infrastructure. It is the Democrats, however, who have recognized the need for Congress to intervene in budget oversight due to the fraud, waste and abuse. In the most recent meeting of the Senate Appropriations Committee, Democrats blasted White House Budget Director, Jim Nussle, on the misappropriation of funds at home and abroad. What I’ve seen from Democrats on bi-partisan efforts truly impresses me. The Republicans seem to be more concerned with sticking it to the Democrats out of spite for losing control of Congress.

The current division of power provides the best checks and balances I’ve seen. Unfortunately, it also provides a lot of impasse on urgent bills, but at least not without good reason.

I would also like to comment on the professionalism of Jim Nussle. The poor man is running the budget for a Republican administration and taking his financial requests to a Democrat-led Congress and getting berated by each Senator for a menagerie of reasons without lashing back in an angry way. He acknowledges the anger and passion of each Senator. What I don’t care for is how he dances around questions and does not provide a simple answer to the most simple “yes/no” questions.