please stop

If you watch TV news or listen to the radio you hear them every day -- tired, worn-out clichés inserted mindlessly into the political conversation by interviewers and politicians alike.

For example, it would take a little effort to identify a specific spending measure one dislikes, and to say what's bad about it, but condemning "pork-barrel politics" is as easy as falling off a roof. When politicians vow to "reach across the aisle" I sigh audibly, and contemplate sending an e-mail asking what on the other side of the aisle is so tempting that it's worth reaching all the way over there.

So let's hope that we won't have to resort to a hail Mary pass to keep the national economy afloat in 2011, which should be fairly easy if legislators could learn to think outside the box, and maybe stop reflexively condemning those tax-and-spend Democrats.

Yes, back up a moment. Think about it a second: raising money with taxation, then spending it on the country's needs. Might be a feasible way to grow the economy.