It's gut-check time for the Republicans on the budget

Townhall ^ | 10/20/5

[Crackingham]

Congress hasn’t reopened a budget act by amendment since 1977. And were it not for the leadership of Mike Pence (R-IN) and the Republican Study Committee, that streak would have continued through 2005.

Like thieves in the night, Congress avoids returning to the scene of the crime. Because budget acts are composed of mandatory spending, Congress is especially reluctant to reopen the books to find savings. But thanks to a recent uprising among fiscally conservative House Republicans, Congress will have to do just that this year.

Much is made publicly about pork barrel discretionary spending, but it is the mandatory (e.g. Medicare) spending that most jeopardizes America’s fiscal health. By reopening the budget act, Congress is forced to change the government spending baseline, leading to huge savings over several years rather than eliminating a single highway project in Tiny Town, Oklahoma.

That’s why Congress rarely reopens a passed budget act. And that’s also how America’s fiscal house gets out of order, as it is right now.

When Hurricane Katrina struck in late August, things only got worse. Congress rushed to Washington and appropriated $60 billion in relief funds. True to form, Congress merely added the $60 billion to an already burgeoning $8 trillion deficit.

Liberals smelled blood. Now is the time for higher taxes to pay for bigger, bolder government, they said.

Republican leadership, meanwhile, was content to gorge on a taxpayer financed fiscal feast. Then Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R-TX) even declared an “ongoing victory” in the war against budget fat.

Mr. DeLay and some of his Republican friends, it appeared, needed a lesson in fiscal conservatism.

Federal spending must be viewed as a zero sum game. Limited resources means that every dollar allocated to project A is one less allocated to project B, C, D, and on down the line. This approach is particularly apt in the wake of an unprecedented national disaster.

But it rarely occurs in practice – even in a Republican controlled Congress.

That’s what makes Pence and the RSC – a group of fiscal conservatives – so valuable. As Katrina reconstruction estimates trickled in, RSC members called for dollar-for-dollar cuts in mandatory spending to foot the bill.

So as the generals fled and bent under pressure, the foot soldiers stood firm and fought the good fight against runaway spending.

Who’s in charge here?

[traviskicks]

And were it not for the leadership of Mike Pence (R-IN) and the Republican Study Committee, that streak would have continued through 2005.

[jackieaxe]

We have met the enemy and it is us.

I respect W and have voted Republican consistently, however, the federal government has grown at over 2 times the rate of inflation since W took over. A real rotten statistic.

[JustBackFromIraq]

As a long time conservative, and I am very upset, especially after reading the Bruce Bartlett article, "The Final Straw."
http://www.townhall.com/opinion/columns/brucebartlett/2005/10/18/171730.html

I'm familar with all the issues he brings up in this article, but after reading about the issues in a summarized form, it brings into focus why I'm so friggin mad. Bigger government saddled with debt! What's it going to take to fix things around here! Somebody has to kickbutt and take names, even if that person is ME!

[Extremely Extreme Extremist]

Nobody is addressing the three-headed monster: Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid. Until these obsolete entitlement programs are phased out, gov't spending will continue to grow.