Finally, But Can They Carry Through? (Part II)

Perhaps my biggest gripe with the Bush Administration is spending. I would like to see the President champion a much smaller government though I am not too hopeful.

Can They Cut It?
GOP spending hawks are respectable again. But will they get anything done?

BY BRENDAN MINITER
Tuesday, October 18, 2005 12:01 a.m. EDT

"We went from being in the doghouse to being feted as the heart and soul of the party," Rep. Jeff Flake of Arizona said recently. The good news for Mr. Flake and his small band of budget hawks is that they are back in the good graces of their party's leaders after publicly criticizing the GOP for post-Katrina spending. But then again, the Republican Party has always had heart when it came to fighting spending. In some ways its all heart and no brain.