I want every toy I see

Remember when you were six and your parents brought you to Toys 'R Us or Kay-Bee's? Remember running to the GI Joe aisle and picking out your favorite... then picking out one more... then two more after that... and eventually returning to your folks with a double-armful of crap that you absolutely had to have?

If you say "no," you're lying. But that's immaterial.

What is material is the fact that most of America has never gotten out of that six year old mindset.

This latest poll from Rasmussen adds a measure of clarity to otherwise muddy waters. A plurality of republicans want tax cuts no matter what it means for the national deficit. A plurality of democrats want tax hikes to balance the budget.

Republicans want to cut spending. But not on Social Security, Medicare or national defense. The three of which combine for about 75% of our national budget now, and will scrape 90% in a decade.

Democrats don't want to cut spending. But they believe a balanced budget is essential to good governance.

Everyone hates "big government." But don't touch our favorite programs - our biggest government! For all the crying and hand wringing over TARP and the stimulus package, combined they'll just about equal one payment on the interest of our health care debt by 2025. Let's just keep our heads buried in the sand for a while longer, shall we?

Because we want what we want with no regard for what's going to happen a year from now, let alone fifteen. We want what we want with no regard for reality. We are all the six year old kid running through the toy store.

And yes, President Obama, we know this is largely George Bush's fault. We knew this a long time before we elected you, and as a matter of fact we hired you to fix this mess. It was the highlight of your job application. "He talks to us like adults!" we all marveled, especially after the Reverend Wright speech in Philadelphia. George Bush was the spendthrift parent who would ring up massive credit card bills and buy his kid everything in the store. You were the level head who would make us go back and return the items we had picked out.

You were the parent who would risk disappointing his kids because it was the right thing to do. You wouldn't govern by polls or ideology. You'd cut what needed to be cut and tax what needed to be taxed.

So when I see a story like this - White House Health Care Plan Revealed Today - coming a full 13 months after you took office, it's hard to give you a mulligan. Yes, it's a shame that you're surrounded by ineffectual dweebs in the senate and self-absorbed half-wits in the house, but you're a pragmatist and a leader, remember? Herding this group of followers should be right in your wheelhouse.

It is time, if I may borrow a phrase from Red State America, to git 'r done. The tough choices need to be made now, even at the risk of some seats in congress. And enough nonsense about needing bipartisanship. After the last eight years, we all know that the president can pretty much do whatever he wants and nobody's going to be able to call him on it. Follow that Bush doctrine of executive power if you must.

Either way, you've let us run around with our armful of toys long enough. Be the adult now.