Big spender Green says cut spending

You know what they say about actions vs. words.

Rep. Mark Green says today that he will save us from taxes and reduce government spending in Wisconsin.

All we have to do is elect him governor.

Believable?

Well, it easier to believe if you don't look at his record in the Legislature or in Congress.

In the Legislature, Green voted for Tommy Thompson budgets that spent more and more every year. The 1993-95 budget alone, which Green supported, increased spending 13.4%.

Green also voted to raise cigarette taxes, gas taxes and motor vehicle registration fees, among other things.

In fact, as Cory Liebmann pointed out, Wisconsin's tax burden was at its peak when Green was in the legislature. It has gone down under Gov. Jim Doyle.

Then there's the little matter of Green's record in Congress.

Green has voted for Bush budgets that have increased the national debt by 2.5-trillion dollars, while making pious statements about the need to reduce the deficit.

Worse yet, while he's voted for trillions in tax cuts for the super rich, and a blank check for the war in Iraq, Green has voted for $41-billion in cuts to programs that actually improve people's lives -- Medicare, student loans, child support enforcement, Medicaid, and farm programs. His priorities are all wrong. He's been willing to spend trillions on the wrong things.

Now, running for governor, Green's had a deathbed conversion to spending restraint.

He's as phony as the day is long. And the days are getting longer.

UPDATE: Seth Zlotocha says Green may be making a mistake by moving to make the right happy when he should be moving toward the middle.

UPDATE 2: Green gets a pass on spending record.