Another Perspective Blank Checks

For those who wish to see government spend less, these are frustrating times. A bill that cut spending by a minuscule amount passed Congress earlier this year by the slimmest of margins. The Senate is undermining the cuts in President Bush's new budget while voting to expand home heating subsidies. Reform of the budget process has gotten no traction. Other than the plan released by Republican Study Committee last week, there is little for limited-government types to cheer.

The temptation at times like these is to reach for policy ideas that look good at first glance but end up making the problem worse. Case in point is Senator George Allen's proposal to dock Congress members' paychecks if they do not finish each year's budget on time. In other words, should members let the end of the fiscal year (September 30) pass without finishing all those omnibus-spending bills, then their checking accounts would be hurting.

To be fair, Senator Allen is promoting some worthwhile ideas to get spending under control, such as a balanced budget amendment and an amendment authorizing the line item veto. And he has what seems like a good rationale for his paycheck-suspension proposal:

It is absurd that full-time legislators can't get their job done on-time by October 1 -- then several months later -- all kinds of unknown, unchecked spending occurs. They pass it in the dead of night, thinking nobody will notice what's in these appropriations bills....What my measure will do is say very clearly, "if you fail to pass appropriations bills by the start of the fiscal year -- which is your job, which is what you are paid to do -- your paycheck will be withheld until you complete your job, period."