Posted by
Yubaduck on Wednesday, July 30, 2008 5:16:29 PM
If you believe in limits to government, that good intentions are not as important in spending bills as relevance to Constitutional limitations, Tom Coburn is a senator we need to find others to emulate. Harry Reid is angry because he won't play ball and support "good" "bipartisan" spending bills without specific cuts in other parts of the budget to pay for these bills. In other words, he refuses to go along with business as usual, and has been an effective enough advocate of fiscal restraint, that 39 senators will go with him.
If John McCain wants to win over hesitant conservatives, publically and openly praising this senator who "walks the walk" on eliminating earmarks would make sense. Even better would be bringing this senate debate to the attention of the American people. Families faced with higher gas and food prices have to make this decision all the time.....do we pay for the "good" trip to see the grandparents, or do we pay for the "good" dance lessons for our daughters? Or are we irresponsible and we pay for both with credit, mortgaging the future of our kids. This is not an issue of "medicine or food" choices that elderly people make in AARP commercials. Its an issue of pay now or pay later for good but optional things. What Coburn is demanding is that the government openly state how they will pay for what it proposes, not irresponsibly push the debt off to the future with vague promises or silence.
Democrats love to play the Concord Coalition fiscal responsibility game when it suits their purposes. They love to say we can't afford the war in Iraq, we can't afford a military buildup, we can't afford to do tax cuts, we in fact need to raise taxes on the wealthy to redistribute to the poor. The fact that income redistribution is not constitutional is irrelevant to them. The fact that higher taxes on the wealthy lead to less economic activity is a boogie man to them. Coburn and his allies aren't even mentioning the constitutionality of these programs, an arguement that became somewhat moot in the 30's when Roosevelt passed the New Deal, and becomes less relevant with every passing day and every new program, at least until a real conservative majority is in place to begin the process of weeding out those programs that have no place in government. All Coburn and his allies are saying at this point to the Democrats is: "Be a responsible adult about things and prioritize. Don't lie to your constituents telling them government can be all things to all people, hold yourself to a budget, and prioritize spending to stay within that budget." Framed like that, in the context of an election year, the Democrats look childish and petulant. But only if the Republicans make it an issue and press the point home.
This article, from realclearpolitics.com and also here on townhall, by Jacob Sullum of Reason Magazine, says it better than I can. All I can do is ask everyone I know to support this senator and his effort at bringing about fiscal restraint.