Bugman Budget Man

Last night we learned that Tom DeLay might be one of the candidates to replace Josh Bolten as director of the Office of Management and Budget. Today, the hammer gets an endorsement, from The Blog of The Year:

No one knows more about the budget. And I'd like to see the administration show some support for DeLay.

DeLay is the guy who said this last September:

House Majority Leader Tom DeLay said yesterday that Republicans have done so well in cutting spending that he declared an "ongoing victory," and said there is simply no fat left to cut in the federal budget.

Mr. DeLay was defending Republicans' choice to borrow money and add to this year's expected $331 billion deficit to pay for Hurricane Katrina relief. Some Republicans have said Congress should make cuts in other areas, but Mr. DeLay said that doesn't seem possible.

"My answer to those that want to offset the spending is sure, bring me the offsets, I'll be glad to do it. But nobody has been able to come up with any yet," the Texas Republican told reporters at his weekly briefing.

Asked if that meant the government was running at peak efficiency, Mr. DeLay said, "Yes, after 11 years of Republican majority we've pared it down pretty good."

No more fat left to cut. Here's a fun fact: (via mcjoan:

In its monthly accounting of the government's books, the Treasury Department reported Wednesday that federal spending totaled $250 billion last month, up 13.7 percent from March 2005.

Government receipts also were up, rising 10.6 percent from a year ago, to $164.6 billion. That left a deficit for the month of $85.5 billion, a record imbalance for March.

Not to mention that the suggestion here is that a guy indicted for money laundering should be in charge of the federal budget. Well, at least it would eliminate the middle man!