Who's the party of fiscal responsibility?

Hint: It isn't the Republicans.

Far be it for me to defend Washington Democrats these days, but give credit where credit is due: NOT ONE OF THEM voted yesterday to pay for Bush's tax cuts for the already insanely wealthy by going even deeper into debt.

Here are the Democrats (and three Republicans) who refused to allow this insanity to continue.

Here's what the Party of Fiscal Responsibility® authorized yesterday:

The U.S. Congress approved a $781 billion increase in the federal government's debt limit, the fourth time lawmakers have raised the cap since President George W. Bush took office.

The Senate voted 52-48 to increase the legal limit on federal borrowing to $8.97 trillion, up from $8.18 trillion. The House approved the measure last year, meaning the legislation now goes to the president for his signature.

The increase was approved about 30 minutes after the Treasury postponed the scheduled announcement of the sale of three-month and six-month Treasury bills. Treasury Secretary John Snow warned Congress in increasingly dire terms that the government couldn't continue to pay its bills, and risked defaulting on its obligations, without an immediate increase in the debt ceiling.

After the vote, Snow said lawmakers had protected ``the full faith and credit of the United States'' and ensured the government ``can deliver on promises already made, such as Social Security and Medicare payments and aid for the victims of the 2005 hurricanes.''

The government will spend $217 billion on interest on the debt this year, according to the Congressional Budget Office. By contrast, federal spending for the Department of Education is $83 billion.

As Hoffmania says, "If any one challenges you on what we stand for, this is a dandy start."

It's time to educate the American people that the Democratic Party is the party of "Paying Our Bills" and the Republicans are the party of "Go on a Bender and Pass the Cost Off to Our Kids." It's time to educate the American people that the Republican party is the one cutting funds for port security.

The campaign issues are right there. They're even low-hanging fruit so they're easy to pick. All the Democrats have to do is get out of the fetal position and run on them.