On Marketplace, David Frum exposed the nefarious scheme of newly-elected Congressional Democrats:

Imagine if the Republicans had retained their Congressional majority and the first thing they did was suggest big new subsidies for, say, the oil industry. Would there no public outrage?

The answer, of course, is no, because the Republican majority elected in 2004 passed an energy bill the following year with billions of dollars ($2.175 billion, to be exact) in oil subsidies (and billions more for coal and nuclear power. See here for an even higher estimate of $27 billion in subsidies for the three). But this brief intrusion of reality would spoil his point, since his rhetorical question expects a credulous nod with a “Why yes, David, there would certainly be tremendous outrage.” So he continues:

Read the rest here. I don’t know what to think about the analysis of why tuition keeps rising, but it is well worth reading.

It seems to me that I used to say that the Republican Party was pro-business with the idea that they wanted businessmen to be free to take risks and, when they survived the risks, be rewarded for meeting real needs.

But, in politics, being “pro-business” means advocating for welfare benefits for business.

And, when it comes to campaigning, Russ is absolutely right that accusing the democrats of wanting to give benefits to students, rather than corporations, would be a pretty self-destructive strategy. What was Frum thinking? Sometimes I think the story of the Republican party since Reagan is to actively transform itself in to the Democrat’s stereotype of the Party.