In the GOP's budget, a surplus of spite
By Eugene Robinson
WashPost
Tuesday, January 25, 2011
Despite what you might have heard, the coming battle on Capitol Hill is not really about "government spending" in the abstract. It's about two radically different visions of how money should be spent.
Republicans who feign attacks of the vapors and fainting spells over the big, scary deficit would be more convincing if they didn't begin with the insane premise that defense spending should be sacrosanct. The House leadership in the past few days has begun to signal retreat from this indefensible position, but it's unclear how much of the hyper-conservative GOP majority will follow.
Majority Leader Eric Cantor said Sunday that "every dollar should be on the table" - meaning that the Pentagon, which consumes nearly one-fourth of the entire federal budget, should be open to scrutiny as well. But this is a departure from last year's Republican campaign pledge to solve the nation's budget woes by cutting "discretionary" spending only, but still leaving intact the defense spending needed to "keep America strong."
The Republican "Pledge to America" promised to cut "at least $100 billion in the first year alone," notwithstanding "exceptions for seniors, veterans and our troops." This was never a serious proposal, given that defense, plus entitlements and other mandatory spending, consume about four-fifths of the budget. But it was a nice round number that sounded good.
(More here.)
WashPost
Tuesday, January 25, 2011
Despite what you might have heard, the coming battle on Capitol Hill is not really about "government spending" in the abstract. It's about two radically different visions of how money should be spent.
Republicans who feign attacks of the vapors and fainting spells over the big, scary deficit would be more convincing if they didn't begin with the insane premise that defense spending should be sacrosanct. The House leadership in the past few days has begun to signal retreat from this indefensible position, but it's unclear how much of the hyper-conservative GOP majority will follow.
Majority Leader Eric Cantor said Sunday that "every dollar should be on the table" - meaning that the Pentagon, which consumes nearly one-fourth of the entire federal budget, should be open to scrutiny as well. But this is a departure from last year's Republican campaign pledge to solve the nation's budget woes by cutting "discretionary" spending only, but still leaving intact the defense spending needed to "keep America strong."
The Republican "Pledge to America" promised to cut "at least $100 billion in the first year alone," notwithstanding "exceptions for seniors, veterans and our troops." This was never a serious proposal, given that defense, plus entitlements and other mandatory spending, consume about four-fifths of the budget. But it was a nice round number that sounded good.
(More here.)
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