Both Kevin Williamson and Marc Thiessen point out, correctly, that many Republicans–I’d say most–are insufficiently serious about cutting the federal budget. But I think both of them are wrong to concentrate so much on pork, or earmarks, or whatever we’re calling it today, which is a trivial percentage of the federal budget. Take Thiessen, writing about the Missouri Senate race: “Blunt is a conservative on many fronts — but spending is not one of them. Blunt has been a prolific earmarker during his 12 years in Congress. In 2010 alone, he has requested $153 million in earmarks.” The second and third sentences are true. It’s also true that Blunt led Congress to cut $40 billion in entitlement spending when he was acting majority leader. Which strikes me as about 260 times as important.

My point isn’t that Blunt’s record or McConnell’s record on spending, including on entitlements, is everything I would wish it to be. It’s that the fiscal future of the country does not turn on grants to the Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant. We ought to be pressuring Republicans on the right issues.