Echoing the feelings of a number of republican representatives, Senator Jeff Sessions recently called Obama's budget plan a "fiscal road to hell."

At 3.5 trillion dollars, the president's budget proposal is just slightly more than Bush's most recent 3.1 trillion dollar budget, which, need we be reminded, did NOT include the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq (Obama's includes both, in addition to health care reform, education initiatives, arts funding, more pay for veterans, etc...).

Not to mention the fact that the Bush administration took the country from a 236 billion dollar SURPLUS in 2000, to a 1.3 trillion dollar deficit in just 7 years.

Now maybe I'm being harsh, but I think the "road to hell" was paved LONG before Obama took office. And while it is essential to remain skeptical of any and all government initiatives - this is the nature of a democracy, after all - congressional republicans have few legs to stand on when it comes to fiscal responsibility.

If government control and excessive spending are characteristic of a socialist regime (as republicans and the right-wing media will have you believe), then with two wars waged against popular opinion, a "patriot act" that co-opted nationalist sentiment to weaken individual rights and privacy, and several advancements against personal reproductive rights in the name of religion, we have been a socialist nation for quite some time.

I guess the key is to ignore the fear tactics of the media, maintain a realistic relationship with past mistakes, simplify and avoid excess, and keep in mind that things can't possibly get any worse. ;)