Rough Translation: When you were on your way there, I was already on my way back

It is an old saying in Spanish, which is normally used when you want to express to someone that they are not telling you anything new. You have been there, done that, and what is new and exciting to them, is old news to you.

It is very similar to what the voters in some European nations are telling us after booting out a large number of liberal politicians in some of the largest European economies.

BRUSSELS – Conservatives scored victories in some of Europe's largest economies Sunday as voters punished left-leaning parties in European parliament elections in France, Germany and other nations.

Some right-leaning parties said the results vindicated their reluctance to spend more on company bailouts and fiscal stimulus to combat the global economic crisis.

The European Union said center-right parties were expected to take the most seats — 267 — in the 736-member parliament. Center-left parties were headed for 159 seats. The remainder were expected to go to smaller groupings.

Right-leaning governments were ahead of the opposition in Germany, France, Italy and Belgium, while conservative opposition parties were leading in Britain and Spain.

While our government here is trying to look more and more like the socialist European governments, the Europeans, it seems, have had about enough. Hopefully it will not take us as long as it did them to realize that socialism is not the answer.