Bush Offers $2.77 Trillion in Spending

The president’s budget arrives on Capitol Hill today, and some of its provisions are good, some are bad, and some are neither. However, there is no denying that the Republican Party of George “LBJ” Bush is no longer a conservative party. It is a right-wing party dedicated to hefty government spending of borrowed money. The $2.77 trillion wish list includes a short fall of $423 billion, in nominal terms the biggest ever.

Democrats have already turned their guns on the plan, claiming that it does nothing for the poor and the needy of America. In particular, they have screamed over the $35.9 billion cuts in Medicare, spending on health for the elderly and disabled. Now, traditional conservatives would argue that the cuts aren’t enough, that government shouldn't be providing health care to people because the market does better and so on. That is not what is coming from the White House. “These are not cuts,” according to White House Budget Director Joshua Bolten. “These are modest reductions in the rate of growth.” Ah yes, that will get the party faithful to the polls, “Give us liberty or a modest reduction in the rate of growth.”

Congressional Republicans are echoing the White House. “We have to face up to this fiscal reality that this baby boom generation is going to retire soon and we need to do something about it," said Senate Budget Committee Chairman Judd Gregg (R-NH). Real conservatives would argue that America needs to do nothing about it. It’s the problem of the market, society and the baby boomers themselves. The folks in congress are also very happy about $18 billion in additional hurricane relief aid Mr. Bush has requested. Nothing gets people re-elected quicker than several million handed out to construction firms owned by cousins and brothers-in-law; it's just not conservative.

The “American Competitive Initiative,” designed to educate more American scientists and engineers (a laudable goal), includes a tax break in the budget for business R&D, a doubling of government’s commitment to basic research (which the market and private sector do very poorly), and provides funds to train thousands of new math and science teachers. This is a debatable project, yet there are some very good things about it. What the initiative doesn't have is any conservative values. Government tax breaks for business R&D is merely a subsidy by another name and is distinct from an across-the-board cut, which would be conservative. More government spending on science and math is great, but not conservative.

The 2006 elections will see a great many Republicans backing the president’s program here (and again, there are some very good things in it; they are right to do so). However, the small government libertarian faction of the GOP is nowhere to be seen in this package. The big government rightists are in charge. Precisely what the small government Republicans do on election day will determine the outcome of a few races, to say the least. Right now, the president has given them no reason to turn up and vote.


© Copyright 2006 by The Kensington Review, Jeff Myhre, PhD, Editor. No part of this publication may be reproduced without written consent.
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