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'Conservatives' not guarding public dollar, critic argues
By Libby Quaid - Associated Press Writer
Sunday, December 21, 2003
Washington — It used to be that Sen. Sam Brownback calculated the national debt, to the penny, on a marker board in his office. Last week, the sign greeted visitors with a Santa Claus and a wreath.
That old debt calculator tells the story of Kansas Republicans and the GOP Congress. After nine years running the House and Senate and three years in the White House, Republicans are responsible for the largest federal spending increase in a decade.
"They came in with reformist zeal, but they ran into political difficulties," said Brian Riedl, an analyst at the conservative Heritage Foundation think tank. "Republicans should feel embarrassed. They're perceived as guardians of the taxpayer dollar, and they're spending more irresponsibly than the Democrats they replaced."
Lawmakers are quick to mention the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks and the resulting defense and homeland security cost, but Riedl said that explanation was inadequate.
According to an analysis Riedl did earlier this month, spending unrelated to defense and Sept. 11 jumped 11 percent from 2001 through 2003, the biggest two-year increase in a decade. Some of the biggest growth was in spending on Social Security, unemployment compensation, health, education and farm programs.
Brownback and Rep. Todd Tiahrt arrived in 1995 during the heady days of then-Speaker Newt Gingrich's "Contract With America." Though Brownback never actually signed it, the two set to work trying to shut down four federal agencies, balance the federal budget, turn power over to the states and reform welfare.
In many cases, they succeeded. But four straight years of federal surpluses ended in 2002. Riedl's theory is that well beforehand, there was a backlash against spending cuts because of the 1995 budget shutdown.
"I think Republicans were shell-shocked at how difficult it was," Riedl said. "Spending cuts are (now) seen as a guarantor of election defeat."
Sen. Pat Roberts, who served 16 years in the House before winning his Senate seat in 1996, said, "I don't know if there is any hangover from that or not, but that was certainly not the way to do business."
‘Deal with reality'
Roberts said he didn't want to saddle his kids or grandkids with the debt, but at the same time, spending is not just about numbers.
"There is a segment of people who serve here who wear green eyeshades and just deal with numbers and don't deal with reality," he said. "What are you going to do if you have a hurricane? Disaster relief. What are you going do to if you have a drought? Relief. What are you going to do if you have a war? The needs of the country are not static."
That's what Tiahrt and fellow Republican Rep. Jerry Moran found out about cutting spending: It's tough to do when it affects people back home.
"I have discovered there is less interest in doing that than I thought there would be," said Moran, who also served in the state Legislature, where balanced budgets are required. Ryun, elected along with Moran in 1996, said: "I didn't have any grand illusions about how hard it would be to control spending."
He recently voted against the huge end-of-the-year spending bill and, along with Moran and Democratic Rep. Dennis Moore, voted against the costly Medicare overhaul.
"It's not my intention to vote against my party," said Ryun, explaining that he decides on a case-by-case basis. "I can't help emphasizing that when I see my grandchildren, I think, wow, these are the ones who are going to have to bear the burden."
Simplified approach
Brownback and Tiahrt think they have a solution in legislation to set up the equivalent of a base closure commission for federal programs. The panel would identify ineffective programs and give Congress a list for a single yes-or-no vote on shutting them all down.
"We will get out of the deficit the same way we did last time, where we grow the economy and restrain the growth of federal spending," Brownback said.
Tiahrt said it's not that he doesn't trust Congress to make tough choices.
"I just don't physically have the time," he said. "I have my congressional district back in Kansas, I've got people unemployed, I've got a lot of things on my plate. I see this as an extension of my oversight. We physically don't have the time or resources to do what needs to be done."
Not everyone likes the approach.
"I think it would be unwieldy and would lead to a lot of problems," Roberts said. "I'm for the goals. It's well-intentioned." But "we are that commission," he said.
Republicans ‘sold out'
Riedl, the Heritage analyst, agreed Congress is supposed to do the job itself. But his outfit still backs the legislation.
"We have to deal with Congress as they are, not as we want them to be," he said. "They should not need a commission to create a list of programs to eliminate, when members of Congress already know which programs are wasteful. Republicans have sold out the philosophy that they ran on. It's pretty depressing."
Brownback stopped running his debt clock -- and stopped returning a portion of his salary to the federal treasury -- when Congress finally balanced the federal budget in the late 1990s, he said.
"I do think you're going to see us start to refocus on that to get us back to balance," Brownback added.
http://www.ljworld.com/section/stateregional/story/155759
By Libby Quaid - Associated Press Writer
Sunday, December 21, 2003
Washington — It used to be that Sen. Sam Brownback calculated the national debt, to the penny, on a marker board in his office. Last week, the sign greeted visitors with a Santa Claus and a wreath.
That old debt calculator tells the story of Kansas Republicans and the GOP Congress. After nine years running the House and Senate and three years in the White House, Republicans are responsible for the largest federal spending increase in a decade.
"They came in with reformist zeal, but they ran into political difficulties," said Brian Riedl, an analyst at the conservative Heritage Foundation think tank. "Republicans should feel embarrassed. They're perceived as guardians of the taxpayer dollar, and they're spending more irresponsibly than the Democrats they replaced."
Lawmakers are quick to mention the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks and the resulting defense and homeland security cost, but Riedl said that explanation was inadequate.
According to an analysis Riedl did earlier this month, spending unrelated to defense and Sept. 11 jumped 11 percent from 2001 through 2003, the biggest two-year increase in a decade. Some of the biggest growth was in spending on Social Security, unemployment compensation, health, education and farm programs.
Brownback and Rep. Todd Tiahrt arrived in 1995 during the heady days of then-Speaker Newt Gingrich's "Contract With America." Though Brownback never actually signed it, the two set to work trying to shut down four federal agencies, balance the federal budget, turn power over to the states and reform welfare.
In many cases, they succeeded. But four straight years of federal surpluses ended in 2002. Riedl's theory is that well beforehand, there was a backlash against spending cuts because of the 1995 budget shutdown.
"I think Republicans were shell-shocked at how difficult it was," Riedl said. "Spending cuts are (now) seen as a guarantor of election defeat."
Sen. Pat Roberts, who served 16 years in the House before winning his Senate seat in 1996, said, "I don't know if there is any hangover from that or not, but that was certainly not the way to do business."
‘Deal with reality'
Roberts said he didn't want to saddle his kids or grandkids with the debt, but at the same time, spending is not just about numbers.
"There is a segment of people who serve here who wear green eyeshades and just deal with numbers and don't deal with reality," he said. "What are you going to do if you have a hurricane? Disaster relief. What are you going do to if you have a drought? Relief. What are you going to do if you have a war? The needs of the country are not static."
That's what Tiahrt and fellow Republican Rep. Jerry Moran found out about cutting spending: It's tough to do when it affects people back home.
"I have discovered there is less interest in doing that than I thought there would be," said Moran, who also served in the state Legislature, where balanced budgets are required. Ryun, elected along with Moran in 1996, said: "I didn't have any grand illusions about how hard it would be to control spending."
He recently voted against the huge end-of-the-year spending bill and, along with Moran and Democratic Rep. Dennis Moore, voted against the costly Medicare overhaul.
"It's not my intention to vote against my party," said Ryun, explaining that he decides on a case-by-case basis. "I can't help emphasizing that when I see my grandchildren, I think, wow, these are the ones who are going to have to bear the burden."
Simplified approach
Brownback and Tiahrt think they have a solution in legislation to set up the equivalent of a base closure commission for federal programs. The panel would identify ineffective programs and give Congress a list for a single yes-or-no vote on shutting them all down.
"We will get out of the deficit the same way we did last time, where we grow the economy and restrain the growth of federal spending," Brownback said.
Tiahrt said it's not that he doesn't trust Congress to make tough choices.
"I just don't physically have the time," he said. "I have my congressional district back in Kansas, I've got people unemployed, I've got a lot of things on my plate. I see this as an extension of my oversight. We physically don't have the time or resources to do what needs to be done."
Not everyone likes the approach.
"I think it would be unwieldy and would lead to a lot of problems," Roberts said. "I'm for the goals. It's well-intentioned." But "we are that commission," he said.
Republicans ‘sold out'
Riedl, the Heritage analyst, agreed Congress is supposed to do the job itself. But his outfit still backs the legislation.
"We have to deal with Congress as they are, not as we want them to be," he said. "They should not need a commission to create a list of programs to eliminate, when members of Congress already know which programs are wasteful. Republicans have sold out the philosophy that they ran on. It's pretty depressing."
Brownback stopped running his debt clock -- and stopped returning a portion of his salary to the federal treasury -- when Congress finally balanced the federal budget in the late 1990s, he said.
"I do think you're going to see us start to refocus on that to get us back to balance," Brownback added.
http://www.ljworld.com/section/stateregional/story/155759