HIT & RUN BLOG

Vicky Hartzler, a freshman representative from Missouri, says one of her top priorities is "reining in runaway spending." Yet she exempts one-fifth of the federal budget and more than half of discretionary spending from scrutiny. "Now is not the time to talk about defense cuts," Hartzler recently told The New York Times. For Hartzler and too many of her fellow Republicans, says Senior Editor Jacob Sullum, it's never time to talk about defense cuts. Sullum says this irrational attitude must be disavowed by anyone who is serious about dealing with the nation's fiscal crisis.

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