A Little Louder from the Right on Overspending

The Washington Post reports that Congress raised the limit on the federal government's borrowing by $781 billion yesterday, and then lawmakers voted to spend well over $100 billion on the war in Iraq, hurricane relief, education, health care, transportation and heating assistance for the poor without making offsetting budget cuts.  The total budget is $2.8 trillion.

Peggy Noonan and Tony Snow weigh in on the profligate spending that has continued during the watch of a Republican President and a Republican-majority Congress.

Peggy Noonan asks whether conservatives should have known that President Bush would bust the budget:

This week's column is a question, a brief one addressed with honest curiosity to Republicans. It is: When George W. Bush first came on the scene in 2000, did you understand him to be a liberal in terms of spending?

The question has been on my mind since the summer of 2005 when, at a gathering of conservatives, the question of Mr. Bush and big spending was raised. I'd recently written on the subject and thought it significant that no one disagreed with my criticism. Everyone murmured about new programs, new costs, how the president "spends like a drunken sailor except the sailor spends his own money." And then someone, a smart young journalist, said, (I paraphrase), But we always knew what Bush was. He told us when he ran as a compassionate conservative. This left me rubbing my brow in confusion. Is that what Mr. Bush meant by compassionate conservatism?

And Tony Snow writes:

A Republican president and a Republican Congress have lost control of the federal budget and cannot resist the temptation to stop raiding the public fisc.

George W. Bush and his colleagues have become not merely the custodians of the largest government in the history of humankind, but also exponents of its vigorous expansion.

Snow takes note of USA Today's recent report that enrollments in welfare programs have grown 17 percent since 2000, even though the population has increased only 5 percent.  Another study shows that enhanced unemployment benefits have produced the predictable result -- longer periods of unemployment. Those who accept the benefits stay off the job more than twice as long as those who don't. 

Snow concludes that:

The welfare state is both a snare and a delusion -- and an active obstacle to the American dream. A compassionate conservative would suggest what Murray urges: Don't fix the system. Tear it down -- and set free the ember of greatness that smolders in every free heart. Or, as our grandparents used to say, "If you want something done right, do it yourself."

You can read more from Peggy Noonan here and from Tony Snow here.

Of course, Democrats are already trying to take advantage of this overspending for political purposes, but that is just silly.  Nobody thinks that if we hand over the budget to the Democrats, they will spend less.  We know their solution without even having to ask:  Spend even more, and tax a lot more.

The problem is that the federal government is attempting to be all things to all people -- with predicatably bad results.  Somebody needs to have the courage to admit that the federal government cannot solve, and is not responsible for solving, every problem in America or most problems in the world.

We need to focus on those national needs that cannot be solved privately, such as our need for a strong national defense.  We cannot spend enough money to eliminate every misery that afflicts humanity -- from hurricanes to tsunamis on the other side of the world, to everyone's health problems here and abroad, to some people's lack of education (which is appalling and inexcusable anyway, given that we have free public education in America through high school for everyone).

Comments

[laura g brown]

Perhaps for today, the phrase describing Bush should be "spending like a drunken leprechaun with his hands in the taxpayers' pot o' gold."

Happy St. Patrick's Day, Gina!