Can Bruce Bartlett save the Republican Party?

He is trying, and is willing to justifiably criticize lil Bush.  I think he gets the connection between low taxes and strangulating central government.   His problem is that the wealthy, who pushed the government spending have left the barn without paying for the purchase; and took the capital with them.  He has a tough job, and the voters have a hard time distinguishing between the damage caused by Obama and that caused by Bush.

I would vote for the Bartlett wing of the Republican party, I wish he could bring the Tea Party with him.   The proper model is the Bill Clinton/Gingrich model, split government.  Each of the extreme wings of either party is a disaster, but put  together we can force enforce the middle.  It is Depression until November.

Peter Suderman at Reason also gets the problem, and a big HT from Instapundit for posting Peter's article, quoting:

Gridlock may offer the best possible solution—the surpluses of the Clinton years came as Washington started arguing more and spending less—but if this sort of pandering and evasion is what the GOP has to offer, it’s probably worth asking: How long can you gripe about deficits without being willing to even talk about possible specific ways to reduce them? A number of Senate Republicans seem determined to help us find out.

Except that Suderman misses the crucial connection, we cannot get split government until the Bush tax cuts expire. We only get gridlock when its in the interests of the wealthy, then we get economic boom. The tax cuts are set to expire on Dec 31, but the election is Nov. Progressives and Conservatives may band together to save Big Government; and prolong the Depression another two years.