"CONGRESS IS LIKE A whiskey drinker," President Lyndon Johnson once observed. "You can put an awful lot of whiskey into a man if you just let him sip it," he said. "But if you try to force the whole bottle down his throat at one time, he'll throw it up."

The 36th president and former Senate majority leader was referring to Congress's ability to produce legislative outcomes -- too much activity inebriates the system. Congressional Democrats learned the hard way this week as the bloated economic stimulus bill stalled in the Senate. Moderation in all things--including the speed with which they grow the federal government--is a virtue. The problem is House Democrats just didn't have the temperance to just say no.

That lack of self-restraint is now producing political headaches. After eight years of bumping heads with a Republican president, many liberals in Congress believe voters just gave them the keys to the spending liquor cabinet. There is so much pent-up demand for funding new projects, Democrats run the risk of ignoring President Johnson's admonition, creating a fiscal--and political--mess.

The current economic crisis may demand speedy action, but it's not a mandate for irresponsible spending. The bill the Senate is considering calls for $65 billion more than the House-passed version, at a time when skepticism about the stimulus plan is growing. Both Gallup and Rasmussen polling demonstrated a sharp drop in support for the legislation in the last several days as more and more stories

House Democrats see the stars aligned for a generational expansion of the federal government. Writing in National Journal last week, Ron Brownstein quotes a Democratic staffer who tells the unvarnished truth: "This is a once-in-a-25-year opportunity to [implement] a lot of our agenda." That's probably correct. But they need to slow down and look to President Obama to serve as the designated driver. Republicans understand the House bill looks more like a Trojan horse for a liberal spending agenda than an economic stimulus bill. They were ebullient following last week's vote, when all GOP members voted no. "It was the most unifying vote in several years," one Republican lawmaker told me. "The outpouring of support Members received from their districts after the vote and over the weekend was gratifying," a House leadership aide added. Many indicated they heard from constituents saying the vote restored their confidence in the Republican party.

The key to the unity, according to several members of the House leadership, was not only the Democrats' excess, but a positive Republican alternative. As Republican leader John Boehner said on the House floor, ". . . our proposal will create 6.2 million jobs over the next two years, about twice as many as the (Democratic) bill and at about half the costs."

Twice the jobs at half the cost! Why in the world wouldn't Congress want to pursue that approach? That's what makes people so angry about Washington. It sounds like the fleecing of America continues as the House Democrats use the economic meltdown to inaugurate New Deal 2.0 with the next generation's money.