Cheney: Building the war machine good for the country (forget the deficits)
Dick Cheney offers the GOP familiar advice on spending
By Dana Milbank,WashPost, Tuesday, July 17, 6:24 PM
Dick Cheney has not had a change of heart.
The former vice president, the reinvigorated new owner of a transplanted ticker, went to Capitol Hill on Tuesday to advise Republicans on budget strategy as Washington heads for the “fiscal cliff.” And Cheney’s message hadn’t changed a bit since the days, early in the George W. Bush administration, when he told the Treasury secretary not to worry about deficits.
Cheney, said lawmakers in the closed-door meetings, urged Republicans to continue high levels of military spending, warning them to resist automatic cuts that were put in place in last summer’s bipartisan budget deal. He offered not a word about how to fix the enormous budget deficits and soaring federal debt.
“The vice president talked only about the pros of appropriate investments in defense,” reported Sen. Bob Corker (R-Tenn.), who worried that lawmakers might respond to such advice by abandoning attempts to restrain spending.
In that sense, the Republicans’ invitation to Cheney was worrying. In office, he championed policies — huge tax cuts, fighting two wars on credit and expanding Medicare benefits — that created much of today’s fiscal mess. Three years later, as the consequences of such policies have become clear, he is essentially advising the GOP on the same course.
Seeking Cheney’s advice on budget discipline was a curious choice for congressional Republicans. One wonders whether they will next seek lectures from Scooter Libby on grand jury procedure, Paul Wolfowitz on non-violence or Donald Rumsfeld on charm.
(More here.)
Dick Cheney has not had a change of heart.
The former vice president, the reinvigorated new owner of a transplanted ticker, went to Capitol Hill on Tuesday to advise Republicans on budget strategy as Washington heads for the “fiscal cliff.” And Cheney’s message hadn’t changed a bit since the days, early in the George W. Bush administration, when he told the Treasury secretary not to worry about deficits.
Cheney, said lawmakers in the closed-door meetings, urged Republicans to continue high levels of military spending, warning them to resist automatic cuts that were put in place in last summer’s bipartisan budget deal. He offered not a word about how to fix the enormous budget deficits and soaring federal debt.
“The vice president talked only about the pros of appropriate investments in defense,” reported Sen. Bob Corker (R-Tenn.), who worried that lawmakers might respond to such advice by abandoning attempts to restrain spending.
In that sense, the Republicans’ invitation to Cheney was worrying. In office, he championed policies — huge tax cuts, fighting two wars on credit and expanding Medicare benefits — that created much of today’s fiscal mess. Three years later, as the consequences of such policies have become clear, he is essentially advising the GOP on the same course.
Seeking Cheney’s advice on budget discipline was a curious choice for congressional Republicans. One wonders whether they will next seek lectures from Scooter Libby on grand jury procedure, Paul Wolfowitz on non-violence or Donald Rumsfeld on charm.
(More here.)
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