Bold talk

Sen. Richard Lugar's campaign sent out a press release quoting "a respected budget analyst" on Indiana Week in Review (see YouTube video below) saying that opponent Richard Mourdock's "clueless budget plan" is "just too goofy for words." It also quotes this column by Jack Colwell of the South Bend Tribune:

Throwing out whole departments, with the essential as well as the questionable, is irresponsible. And it doesn't solve the long-term deficit problem.

[. . .]

Again, taking a hatchet to whole departments rather than a scalpel to cut away the unneeded and save the valuable. Again, failing to look at the big picture, while trying to get primary election voters to cheer for a flailing hatchet.

Easy to get the logs burning in a heated primary. But it's nice to have a functioning chimney.

I've talked to Mourdock a time or two, and he is as knowledgeable about financial and budget matters as you would expect a state treasurer to be. Not sure it's wise to throw around words like "clueless" and "goofy" when talking about his proposals. The point has been made over and over by Mourdock and his supporters that what Washington needs right now are bold proposals and a "nothing is sacred" attitude about federal departments. Lugar's reflexive defense of the status quo shows why he drew oppostion from his right in the first place. Add certain journalists and "respected budget analysts" to the list of people who just don't get it, speaking of cluless. There is much to criticize in Mourdock's plans for eliminating Cabinet-level departments, and he even acknowledges he hasn't answered all the doubts yet.

The thing is, Lugar's own ideas show a little gumption, too, especially his endorsement of the Ryan budget plan and apparent embrace of the FairTax. Of course, it's easy to be for such things when your party has only one house and gridlock is certain to doom such major initiatives. The real test will come if Republicans keep the House and win the Senate and the presidency. Then either candidate will have to come through, as will all those who now talk so boldly about radical change. There would be absolutely no excuses for not doing what needs to be done.