Money Not Flowing to Liberal Causes

Liberal interest groups who thought they were in line for a windfall with the Democratic take over of Congress are getting frustrated:

For 12 years, advocates for social programs argued that the Republican majority shortchanged their programs. And with the Democratic take-back of Congress in November, they clearly had the expectation that happy days were here again for them.

"On the night of the election, I had a drink and then I got depressed because (I realized) everybody's going to want us to do everything," said Rep. Jim McDermott (D-Wash.), one of the most liberal members of the House.

Many of the members who helped the party capture the majority ran on the mantle of fiscal responsibility -- and they are insisting their leaders hold the line on spending.

At the same time, the war in Iraq is sucking up billions of dollars that Democrats might have been able to divert to their favored programs. So they are now searching for the balance between holding the fiscal line to keep "Blue Dog" moderates happy and spending on popular programs to satisfy the Democratic progressive base.

So far, Democrats are saying no a great deal.

Even in an era of ever expanding federal budgets, the money can only go so far. Of course, it would be far better for liberal interest groups to look to private citizens for funding, but holding your hand out to the government is also a time honored tradition.