Posted by: Jon Henke on Thursday, March 09, 2006 Matt Yglesias argues that the line item veto is a "sign of the intellectual and political bankruptcy of contemporary conservatism" because Pork is not "a major component of federal spending" and cutting it would not "render GOP tax policies viable". First, it's worth noting that he's absolutely correct about the compositional value of Pork in the federal budget, and that cutting it dramatically — even eliminating it altogether — would not substantively reduce the size of government to the point where Republican tax level preferences would be sustainable. The fact that gaining some measure of control over Pork spending — as some Republicans are currently proposing — does not alone make a responsible federal budget does not mean that doing so is a sign of "political bankruptcy". Cutting a few million off of executive salaries wouldn't've saved Enron, either, but it might have been a good idea, nonetheless. But substituing pork control — even control over discretionary spending in general — for serious reductions in government spending is a sign of a Republican majority without any serious ideas for governance. With that in mind, let's note a strong entry in the "serious proposals for fiscally responsible governance" category by the Republican Study Committee... With Congress heading into a politically perilous budget season, influential House conservatives plan this week to propose an austere alternative spending plan that would pare more than $650 billion over five years, balance the budget and drastically shrink three cabinet agencies.This will be an important bill for new House Majority Leader John Boehner. He was elected on the twin-themes that the GOP needed to get away from corruption and back to limited government. If he can deliver, it will be an important achievement and a good marker about the future of the Republican Majority. If he cannot, that will tell us something, too. Unfortunately, so far, he "would not endorse the proposal". Amy Ridenour has more details on the now-released report, as well as links. More information also at the Republican Study Committee home page. If you want to see the actual proposal, here's a PDF link. Tim Chapman at Townhall's Capitol Report gives an overview, excerpted below...  Republicans can either maintain their majority with bread and circuses for a little bit longer before they (inevitably) hand over the bloated beast to Democrats, or they can prove that they have a serious, sustainable and responsible agenda for governance. What they cannot do is go on indefinitely with the "compassionate conservatism" of these past 5 years. If they continue that, Democrats like Yglesias will correctly point out that fiddling with Pork doesn't solve our looming problems. If they do something about our looming problems, Democrats will inevitably cry about that, too. Only one of those paths, however, is fiscally sustainable. On that note, here's Quote Of the Day material... "The Democratic Party can never be an adult party; they buy votes to get elected and it's the only way they get elected. If Republicans won't be an adult party, America won't have one." — Rep. Tom Feeney [R-FL] |
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