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 | Obama offers tough love to Europe | |
| Sarkozy embraces Obama as ally | |
| Pundits weigh in | |
| Inside Obama's bank CEOs meeting | |
| Obama: A collectivist? | |
| FL Poll: Half Would Consider Crist For Senate | |
| Yawn | |
| Unanimous in Iowa | |
| Sen. Dodd May Get Primary Challenge | |
| SD Sen Poll: Thune With Double-Digit Lead |
| Still Waiting for Hard Choices | |
| 'Coburn Omnibus' May Get Second Try | |
| Can Congress Pass All Obama Wants -- and Should It? | |
| Ready-for-Disaster Republicans | |
| Repeating Our Economic Errors |
April 02, 2009
Budget Debate Shows Washington Politicians in Denial
By Tom CoburnAmericans who are looking to Washington for leadership in a time of economic turmoil are likely going to be disappointed by this week's debate on the budget. Instead of seeing a new kind of politics and an honest debate that asks hard questions and contemplates tough choices between competing priorities, taxpayers will see more partisan role-playing and accounting sleight of hand. Before the budget debate even began, the script was already written.
In the majority's war room, aides are continuing the script of 2008 presidential campaign. In this script, every decision that contributed to our budget and economic challenges occurred during George Bush's tenure. President Obama, as Senate Budget Committee Chairman Kent Conrad (D-ND) said this week, inherited this mess and is merely "part of the clean-up crew."
Finally, in this script, the congressional majority has no real responsibility for any of the fiscal mess in which we find ourselves. Anyone who counters this script is merely recycling old ideas and old talking points.
In the minority war room, aides are arguing that the president's budget taxes, borrows and spends too much. All of this is true but the minority can best demonstrate its commitment to limited government by leading by example. We can do far more in this respect, first by limiting our own earmark requests and by identifying specific areas of the budget that need to be scaled back. Doing anything less will reduce these legitimate claims to partisan chatter.
What the American people want, and what they voted for in November, is an end to the petty, partisan and pre-scripted exchanges in Congress. The American people want a real debate and a fair fight between competing philosophies. What they detest from both sides is hypocrisy and partisan gamesmanship.
The challenges facing our country are too great for Congress to continue business as usual. Our task is urgent not just because we are in the midst of a financial crisis but because we are on the cusp of an even more severe crisis when baby boomers retire en masse in the next few years. Even before Congress contemplated this current budget that runs $1 trillion deficits every year we knew that the impending bankruptcy of Medicare and Social Security would create deficits of the same size.
Yet, instead of having an honest conversation with the American people about the need for restraint we are continuing to indulge in the bad habits of the past. President Obama was elected on pledges to go through the budget line by line, eliminate failing programs and end the abuse of earmarks and no-bid contracts. Congress, however, has little interest in change, unless it comes from the taxpayer's pockets. In this Congress' first ten weeks it has spent more than $2 trillion and funded more than 8,000 earmarks. Congress continues to do the easy work - nothing unites politicians more than the pleasure of spending other people's money - and still refuses to do the hard work of setting priorities and living within our means. With this budget the perfect political moment for fiscal responsibility continues to be a mirage just beyond the horizon of the next election.
As a first step, Congress should drop its intellectually dishonest and hypocritical rhetoric. President Obama, is not merely part of some "clean-up crew," but, as President of the United States, has offered a sweeping and bold budget. I believe President Obama has proposed the most significant shift toward collectivism and away from capitalism in the history of our republic. I believe his budget aspires to not merely promote economic recovery but to lay the groundwork for sweeping expansions of government authority in areas like health care, energy and even daily commerce. If handled poorly, I'm concerned this budget could turn our government into the world's largest health care provider, mortgage bank or car dealership, among other things.
I recognize that others have a different view and sincerely believe these policies are investments. That is the debate we should be having. But, as we do so, we should remember what the late Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan of New York said, "Everyone is entitled to their own opinions, but not their own facts." The fact is, we are on an unsustainable course and have been for many years.
The American people want us to take the long view. History does not begin and end with each president, each election cycle, or each news cycle. It's time we look at the policies of the past 80 years, not eight years, because the challenges before us have been brewing for decades. Claiming that one president is the focus and genesis of all that is irresponsible and dysfunctional in government is asinine, particularly when this claim comes from members of Congress from either party who so strenuously defend their so-called constitutional right to spend money however they please.
The American people are still waiting on change. We can't afford to put off the hard choices any longer, and those choices are clear. We can grow the government or shrink it. We can eliminate wasteful programs or leave them on autopilot. We can live within our means or charge our excess to future generations. It's time for politicians in Washington to be honest with themselves and the American people, and write a new script so future generations can enjoy the blessings and responsibilities of liberty.
