Which came first, criticism or praise?:

House Budget Committee Chairman Jim Nussle (R-IA) was on a roll last week, praising President Bush’s massive 2006 budget plan and ripping Democrats for criticizing it so quickly. “Within 30 seconds, people are holding press conferences and lambasting the budget,” Nussle told his committee. “Now, you tell me that somebody has already had the opportunity to read all of this. . . . The plastic is not even off this thing.”

Rep. Harold E. Ford Jr. (D-TN) intervened to ask, “If we hadn’t read it to criticize it, how did you read it to praise it, just out of curiosity?”

Nussle instantly replied: “The gentleman is out of order.”

“When the law is on your side, bang on the law.
When the facts are on your side, bang on the facts.
When neither are on your side, bang on the table.”