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Can fiscally conservative Republicans be any more effective in the minority than they were in the majority? A stimulating Washington Post story this morning suggests that they can, using their disempowered minority status to take principled positions that they didn't have the integrity to take as an empowered majority.

In Congress, the minority life is mostly talk and little action, and yet for advocates of minimal spending and low taxes, that may not turn out to be so bad. It's easier to promote fiscal discipline in theory than to practice it as a party leader or committee chairman...

"Now that Republicans are in the opposition, they're going to be the most saintly budget hawks you can imagine," said American Enterprise Institute economist Kevin A. Hassett. With the absence of power, he notes, comes the absence of accountability and blame. As Hassett put it, "being in the minority means never having to say you're sorry."

The first test of this proposition is upon us, as three principled conservatives attempt to block passage of nine spending bills that stand as unfinished business in this legislative year.

"We need to examine the bills in the light of the last election, in which I think the American people were unhappy with our spending habits," Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.) explained to reporters. He and his allies, including Sen. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.) and Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.), want Congress to pass a "continuing resolution" to extend funding from the previous fiscal year. "We'd save the taxpayers a lot of money," Sessions said.

The conservatives have been cheered on by the Club For Growth's blog, which has carried the story of the continuing resolution long before the mainstream media picked it up.

It's time to gear up. The Senate showdown on earmarks is next week. The good guys, Tom Coburn and Jim DeMint, are battling the appropriators and the big spenders. There were indications late last week that a "continuing resolution" would be issued, which would potentially save taxpayers up to $17 billion. However, I'm now getting word from a source on the Hill that the CR isn't a done deal.

Watch carefully. This will be a test case that will determine whether the GOP majority will be a principle watchdog deserving of a return to power in two years, or a corrupt lapdog deserving of its new-found minority status.

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