We have a new chairman of the Republican National Committee, former lieutenant-governor of Maryland, Michael Steele.

Steele’s first action on taking command of the Republican party was to clean house. In this clip, he goes toe to toe with DNC chairman Tim Kaine on the porkulus package. Boy, is it great to have someone who understands fiscal conservatism and can actually talk about it.

Economist Tom Sowell explains in this piece why Steele is a great choice for conservatives and libertarians.

Steele not only knows how to talk, he seems to understand the need to talk. In his appearances on television over the years, he has been assertive rather than apologetic. When attacked, he has counter-attacked, not whined defensively, like too many other Republicans. And when criticizing the current administration, Steele won’t have to pull his punches when going after Barack Obama, for fear of being called a racist.

For details on what is actually in the porkulus bill, check out Tom Coburn’s list.

Here are my favorites:

• $39 billion slush fund for “state fiscal stabilization” bailout
• $5.5 billion for making federal buildings “green” (including $448 million for DHS HQ)
• $1.3 billion for NASA (including $450 million for “science” at NASA)
• $1.5 billion for carbon capture projects under sec. 703 of P.L. 110-140 (though section only authorizes $1 billion for five years)
• $850 million for Amtrak

Do Democrats even care about history? Stimulus packages did not work for FDR in the 1930s, or for Japan in the 1990s. Not only that, but Michelle Malkin is reporting that the porkulus bill contains a mechanism to nationalize health care. I already blogged in detail about how well nationalized health care works in the UK and Canada.

UPDATE: Here is an article that an atheist Obama supporter sent me that shows why the porkulus is such a bad idea. Needless to say, he is shocked – shocked – that Obama is doing exactly what he said he would do during the campaign. Porkulus!

UPDATE 2: Economist Walter Williams argues that not only will porkulus drive us into a depression, but that it is also unconstitutional. Here is economist Tom Sowell’s take on porkulus, “Using long, drawn-out processes to put money into circulation to meet an emergency is like mailing a letter to the fire department to tell them that your house is on fire.” Paul over at triablogue laments that we have not reached the day where we give equal credence to the conclusions of eminent black economists, like Williams and Sowell, in Washington.