Dracula and spending cuts

Among the many prime priorities for newly chosen Home Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) was his introduced intention to type a bipartisan panel to chop large spending that has led to an unsustainable $33 trillion nationwide debt. The pragmatist in me cheers, however the cynic in me says asking Congress to chop spending is like asking Dracula to chop again on his consumption of blood. Spending helps maintain members in workplace. Moderately than fixing issues and chopping the debt, staying in workplace appears to be all that issues to lots of them.

Along with the nugatory slogan that members are solely “bringing dwelling the bacon” (extra like pork in lots of circumstances) and getting a “justifiable share” for his or her districts and states, spending contributes to their careers, which the Founders foresaw as restricted service in Washington earlier than they returned to actual jobs.

I’ve longed to see Cupboard Members and Members of Congress come earlier than committees and defend their proposals for brand new spending. They need to be requested how present and previous spending has, or has not, achieved the objectives said of their laws and companies. Usually there aren’t any objectives within the laws. It’s spending for the sake of spending. Wall Road Journal columnist Kimberley Strassel gives a great start line.

Strassel writes in a current column: “In line with the White Home it’s ‘important’ that Senate Democrats get one other $16 billion in child-care-center funding, for the reason that supposedly one-time $24 billion pandemic allotment is gone.”

Extra “important” spending requests embrace the Federal Communications Fee getting one other $6 billion for the Reasonably priced Connectivity Program, “a fraud-racked Covid-era boondoggle that aimed to shut the ‘digital divide’ however has actually blown $17 billion subsidizing the Netflix habits of people that already had high-speed broadband.”

There’s a lot extra you could find in her column and elsewhere that unnecessarily contributes to the debt and ensuing larger costs all of us should pay for mortgages, gasoline, meals and different requirements.

Through the Reagan administration, there have been inaccurate press reviews claiming the Pentagon was spending greater than $600 on rest room seats and $435 for hammers that could possibly be purchased at any ironmongery shop for a lot much less. What turned out to be errors in the way in which accounting was dealt with helped focus the minds of many Individuals about authorities overspending and held as much as ridicule those that have been spending cash prefer it wasn’t their very own, which it wasn’t. Reagan named what got here to be often called “The Packard Fee” to reform protection procurement procedures. Later, the Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) was created and carried out over a number of administrations to close down unused and outdated army housing.

Some members of Congress protested, as a result of it price them cash of their districts, however it was completed. As I recall some members who had been screaming loudest concerning the closures later tried having it each methods and took credit score for saving taxpayer cash. You must admire politicians who can say one factor sooner or later and the alternative one other day. Hardly anybody notices or appears to care and that’s a significant a part of the debt downside.

Members who suggest such pointless spending must be introduced earlier than Home committees, now run by Republicans. Democrats gained’t do it, so it’s as much as Republicans to demand accountability and to have proponents justify their spending proposals. Ridiculing them in public and earlier than TV cameras can be a great way to go, however Republicans should be cautious as a result of too lots of them are co-conspirators in terms of spending.

Let’s hope Speaker Johnson will get his bipartisan fee and that it gives cowl for all Members to allow them to cut back spending, reform Social Safety and Medicare, which everybody is aware of should be completed, with a view to safe the monetary way forward for the nation for generations to return.

Readers might e-mail Cal Thomas at [email protected].