It is not surprising to hear the Republicans complain about the unfairness of the "liberal" press and their unfriendly to unfavorable coverage.

It is a little surprising that the complainers don't take a lesson from or seek the advice of the members of the party who get a fair shake.

It ain't rocket science, guys.

Putting that aside, what is really incongruous is that the Republicans, the ancestral home of the political fat cats, think they are getting the short end when it comes to money, too.

Surprisingly, there may be some truth to this.

The GOP has always felt that the money that flows to Democrats from the negative check-off process available to unions of all stripes -- but particularly WEAC, the teachers' politically powerful union -- is an easier route to money and maybe even a richer lode than their one-check-at-a-time soliciting.

All attempts to outlaw this have fallen on deaf ears or worse. The contributions are penny ante, and the members whose dues are clipped can opt out if they wish. So all the GOP can do is point with alarm and complain.

The GOP operatives have come late to the Internet's charms as well. Howard Dean explored this avenue and Barack Obama turned it into a four-lane highway for money. If any Republican finance committee is hitting this jackpot, I'm not aware of it.

It is worth noting that the Democrats have also rounded up more millionaires than the fat cats have. Nobody on the GOP side in Wisconsin comes close to Herb Kohl, for example, and nationally George Soros and his ilk are red meat for the Democrats and their causes.

Let's concede that it may be incongruous, but it does not seem to be a fanciful lament.

The real incongruity though is that, despite this, the organized and elected Republicans can be counted on to oppose all those reform measures proposed by all the do-gooders, not to mention some proposals from their own cohorts as well, which are designed to level the economic playing field.

Spending limits would kill the overkill of negative checking off and Internet prowess.

Contribution limits would cut Herb Kohl and his peers down to size, fiscally anyway.

Best of all, the third-party party crashers would be (a) exposed and (b) subject to spending matches that would, in effect, make them indirect contributors to their intended Republican victims.

Goodbye, George Soros. Farewell, Bill Christofferson. Hello, parity.

And the Republican response: No thanks.

Now that's incongruous.

Kraus is a board member of Common Cause in Wisconsin and served as a top advisor to former Republican Gov. Lee Sherman Dreyfus.