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Mon 26 Sep, 2005 09:21 pm
American politicians of both parties simply aren't serious about fiscal conservatism. Bush and the present Congress have fundamentally realigned the Republican Party towards big government conservatism, while the Democrats simply don't have the stomach for major spending cuts. Did everyone forget the 70s? Anyway, take a look at the discretionay spending hikes under this administration -- only LBJ can match such government lard.
Note: This is pre-Katrina and before the latest pork-filled Transportation Bill.
Discretionary Spending
Agency Spending Cuts (or lack thereof)
Source:
American Enterprise Institute
There is a method to Bush's madness, however. The current admin want huge deficits, then they will claim a budget "emergency" and cut the hated social programs.
Honestly, I don't buy that this is part of 'the plan.'
Spending to spite spending is not a coherent approach to any political agenda. I suspect that this new turn is more the result of non-sensical electoral politics than long-term planning. Just as I wouldn't conclude that huge credit card debt is a feature of personal financial planning, I hesitate to say that "cut-taxes and spend (like a lunatic)" is part of any long term plan for the country. Rather, I don't think that the American electorate is taking long-term financial planning seriously, and the dominant political rhetoric of this country (complacency and fiscal fantasy) certainly doesn't help this situation.
Oh, and to clarify, I'm not characterizing your post as "the dominant political rhetoric," so don't take the above as a swipe at you.
No worries. Just posting my primary hypothesis.
My secondary hypothesis is that they're simply trying to buy votes to keep the Republican party in power.
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