Club, Main Street Join Forces In Defiance Of Senate Sup

It’s a rare day when The Club for Growth and the Republican Main Street Partnership send out a joint release. The conservative Club has sparred openly and aggressively with the moderate Main Street Partnership in a number of primary campaigns, but the two sides have called a well-reported truce since the GOP lost its majority.

Now it appears federal spending is one issue on which these avowed former enemies can agree.

The Club and the Main Street Partnership joined with the Council for Citizens Against Government Waste to decry much of the additional non-emergency money added to a Senate spending bill to fund the war in Iraq.

The three groups point to money set aside for both parties' political conventions as well as sugar beet and Christmas tree farmers.

“The Iraq War Supplemental bill is too important to be stuffed with billions of dollars in special interest-driven pork barrel spending,” said former Republican Rep. – and current Main Street president – Charles F. Bass of New Hampshire, sounding a lot like his conservative former colleagues.

Not to be outdone, Club President – and former Pennsylvania Republican Rep. – Pat Toomey said, “It is becoming abundantly clear from the Senate Iraq supplemental bill that many congressional members care more about their special interest buddies than the taxpayers they are supposed to represent.”

And lest we forget, Tom Schatz, the president of the Council for Citizens Against Government Waste, said, “It’s Christmas time for Congress as visions of sugar beets dance in their heads…Once again the Senate has demonstrated their insatiable appetite for pork at the expense of real priorities like protecting our troops in the field.”

This makes me wonder: With all this unity between the Club and Main Street on government spending, what exactly was the fight about in the first place?