A Short Leash

I don't know a whole lot about dog behavior and training, but I think I can correctly say that to keep most dogs in line you have to treat them with strict and consistent discipline.  Even then they will sometimes misbehave, and all you can really do is curse while you clean up the mess.

Politicians of course act in much the same way. Unfortunately, they are able to do much more damage when they misbehave, and you can't just take them to the pound if they get to be too much trouble.

Our dear Republicans since the November elections have been inconsistent in showing their resolve to accomplish what the voters returned them to power in Congress to do. In the past few days we have seen some in the new leadership backtracking on their pledge to cut $100 billion dollars from the current year's budget.  Today Speaker Boehner had to explicitly affirm that the Republicans are committed to the budget cuts for this calendar year, after the Capitol Hill switchboards were once again flooded with calls from angry citizens.

Well, the path forward is clear.  We are going to have to treat the Republicans the same way Barbara Woodhouse would have treated a dog that just won't learn to heel--yank the leash good and hard until the beast does what it is told.