Posted by
Always To The Right on Wednesday, June 24, 2009 1:35:32 PM
Democrats have pressed hard for “pay-go” rules on budgeting, mainly as
a way to justify tax hikes as they expand federal spending by an order
of magnitude. In order to convince young voters of the necessity of
“pay-go”, House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer told an audience at the
University of Virginia that George Bush left Barack Obama with a $1.3 trillion deficit,
and that pay-go would have stopped it. Hopefully, a few poli-sci
majors will point out to their classmates the obvious factual
deficiencies in this argument (h/t: Bad Outlaw)
Where to start with this foolishness? First, a civics lesson. In fact, Congress appropriates federal spending, not the President, in our system of
government. The President can propose spending, but Congress makes the
final decisions on appropriations and spending levels.
Now, a history lesson. Which party was in charge of Congress the
last two years of the Bush administration? Why, yes, it was the Democrats.
I have no problem blaming Republicans for runaway spending between
2001-6, but 2007-8 belongs to the Democrats, including Steny Hoyer, one
of that party’s leaders. For that matter, it also includes
then-Senator Barack Obama. Deficits in that period are on their hands.
That’s especially true for the final deficit number. Anticipating a
Barack Obama victory in the presidential campaign, Hoyer, Nancy Pelosi,
and Harry Reid never presented George Bush with a budget for FY2009.
Congress passed continuing resolutions that funded federal agencies at
the FY2008 level until Obama took office in January, and then handed
him an omnibus spending plan that boosted federal spending for the
remainder of FY2009 — and expanded the deficit. That final deficit
number belongs more to Obama than it normally would have in a
transition year.