Balanced budget or half-trillion-dollar deficits?

What I have found most amazing lately about the Republican Party and their candidates, aside for the plain stupidity of selecting Sarah Pallin', which made me happy enough to do a double back flip, if only I could, has been the inconsistency of their positions and policy. I've long been puzzled about the big deficits; aren't these they guy who disavow big government? And John and Sarah's claim that Obama's tax plan is "socialist" while nationalizing the big banks is not? Leaves me shaking my head.

Anyhow, James Carville and Paul Begala on the Huffington Post had this to say, which capsulizes the GOP's inconsistency quite succinctly:

"They will need to answer fundamental questions: What does it mean to be a Republican? Do Republicans support laissez-faire or nationalized banking? Do Republicans support a balanced budget or half-trillion-dollar deficits? Do Republicans want a "humble foreign policy" like George W. Bush, or preventive war against countries that pose no threat, like, umm, George W. Bush? Are Republicans the party of limited government or a vast Medicare prescription drug benefit? Are they wary of Big Brother or eager to expand warrantless wiretaps? Do they support Christian values or torture? Are they the party that believes that cutting-edge technology can shoot a missile out of the sky or the party that believes humans and dinosaurs walked the earth simultaneously? "

It's weird.