How can Republicans, courting a full-fledged fiscal crisis, claim to be conservative?
With $2m they hit airwaves casting the debate in terms of civil rights, jobs, fiscal gain (claiming $60m in savings and revenue) and state autonomy.
When he claims fiscal prudence, we remember how he ran through surpluses without a thought to the inevitable downturn and bequeathed huge deficits to his successor.
Simply to avoid such an acceleration in cuts in this kind of spending would require cuts in welfare (or other) spending, or tax rises, of a further £12 billion ($20 billion) a year by 2018-19.But before that the chancellor has not helped himself to achieve the fiscal neutrality he claims to be targeting.
Governments have a broad role that encompasses coordination of policy across various sectors and ministries; the provision of accurate information and regulation of marketing, labeling, and health claims; fiscal and agricultural policies; and promotion of physical activity.
The Democrats claim fiscal responsibility by advocating taxes on the rich, but the numbers don't back up the rhetoric.
He has called himself a "fiscal conservative", and claimed his spending promises lavishing resources on education, renewable energy and a national broadband network would cost less than Mr Howard's commitments.
Two weeks ago, responding to criticism, an executive of the European Central Bank wrote a letter to an Italian newspaper claiming, "fiscal stimulus in European countries is wholly comparable to that seen in the United States".
Huh? Huh?" You might think that by now people would have gotten the conditional nature of the claim: fiscal expansion has a positive effect if the economy is depressed and monetary policy won't move to offset it — typically, if the economy is in a liquidity trap.
So the first page of its election manifesto, which will be published on Monday, is devoted exclusively to its claimed fiscal toughness, and says "every policy in this manifesto will be paid for without requiring any additional borrowing".
