<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8" standalone="yes"?><oembed><version><![CDATA[1.0]]></version><provider_name><![CDATA[The Dish]]></provider_name><provider_url><![CDATA[http://dish.andrewsullivan.com]]></provider_url><author_name><![CDATA[Andrew Sullivan]]></author_name><author_url><![CDATA[https://dish.andrewsullivan.com/author/sullydish/]]></author_url><title><![CDATA[Fiscal Recklessness Runs&nbsp;Deep]]></title><type><![CDATA[link]]></type><html><![CDATA[
<p><img alt="Stteeleinterns1" class="asset asset-image at-xid-6a00d83451c45669e20120a8ca3bd8970b " src="https://sullydish.files.wordpress.com/2010/02/6a00d83451c45669e20120a8ca3bd8970b-500wi.jpg" /> </p>
<p>Bush-era profligacy <a href="http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0210/33324.html#ixzz0gOiRydpC">has an heir</a>: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>A POLITICO analysis of expenses found that compared with 2005, the last comparable year preceding a midterm election, the committee’s payments for charter flights doubled; the number of sedan contractors tripled, and meal expenses jumped from $306,000 to $599,000. [&#8230;] When Steele took over the chairmanship last winter, he inherited a $23 million surplus. Since then, the former Maryland lieutenant governor has raised $10 million less than the party collected in 2005 and has spent $10 million more. By the end of 2009, the committee’s surplus had shrunk to $8.4 million, according to campaign finance reports. </p>
</blockquote>
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