"Much is being made of the fact that discretionary spending increases in the president's budget, other than for defense and homeland security, are being held to only 1 percent. To the administration's defenders, that is proof of its admirable frugality; to its left-wing critics, it is evidence of its coldhearted stinginess. What both sides neglect to mention is that this budget would lock in the skyrocketing budget increases of Bush's first three years.
Since taking office in 2001, Bush has allowed domestic discretionary outlays to soar by an annual average of 8.2 percent. That compared with 2.5 percent a year under Bill Clinton, 4.0 percent of George Bush the Elder, 2.0 percent of Jimmy Carter, and 6.8 percent under Richard Nixon. Under Ronald Reagan, nondefense discretionary spending declined by 1.3 percent per year. (All percentages are inflation-adjusted.) By any measure, Bush the Younger is the biggest-spending president in memory.
He hasn't achieved that distinction by himself, of course. He has been aided and abetted by Congress, both houses of which have been under Republican control for most of the past 10 years. It is getting hard to remember, but when the GOP swept the off-year elections in 1994, their Contract with America committed them to "restoring fiscal responsibility to an out-of-control Congress, requiring them to live under the same budget constraints as families and businesses." As long as there was a Democrat in the White House, Republicans seemed to take that pledge at least semi-seriously. The federal budget was never actually cut, but at least spending growth was held in check. Indeed, President Clinton was forced to accept a plan to end deficit spending, a goal that was achieved in 1998. But with the return of a Republican to the White House, all restraint has vanished."
When the voters start paying attention and recognize this next Fall, Bush and his Administration must be ahead of the curve by setting out an extremely frugal budget for this year and the next four years after that. We can blame the teetering economy and the War on Terrorism fer some of the outta control spending of last three years, but that excuse is wearing mighty thin 30 months after 9/11!! At some point soon, Fiscal Conservatism must return as a staple of what it means to be a Conservative AND a Republican. To do otherwise is to abandon much of what has made the GOP unique to date, and plays right into to the DemonRATS' claim that both parties are essentially the same!!
FReegards...MUD