Continuing a double-barreled GOP questioning of Senator Barbara Mikulski and her record, U.S. Senate hopeful Jim Rutledge pointed out the continuing references by Maryland's senior Senator of "filling the federal checkbook" and questioned if she truly realized where the money was coming from.

On the other hand, Rutledge, "doesn't believe filling the federal government checkbook is the solution to restoring fiscal accountability in Washington. Barbara Mikulski keeps spending while Marylanders are forced to pay back all the debt she is creating. Said Rutledge, "Mikulski would have us believe that all this money is free when in fact we're going to have to pay it back with interest."

"Mikulski and Barack Obama do have an answer to deficit spending and that's more taxes," concluded Jim.

Actually Jim is only half-right, at least until the end of the year when President Bush's 2001/03 tax cuts expire and rates surge upward. The deficit spending we're seeing now is simply being paid for with printed money and IOUs to various foreign nations. In the meantime, hardworking middle-class Americans are seeing their savings evaporate, their private-sector jobs disappear, and their home values continue to tumble - all leading to the real possibility of a "double-dip" recession.

Granted, I'm a Political Buzz Examiner and not an economist, but common sense dictates that when most people run out of money to spend they cut back and pool whatever resources they have in a fiscally defensive mode. It's only Washington politicians who are out of step with this mode of reasoning.

Meanwhile, with both major GOP hopefuls now on the page of pounding Mikulski's record we will see if her approval rating begins to decline.