Dick Armey: Looking forward to the fight...
<<Opportunity Time
The budget fight is a fight I want to have.
By Rep. Dick Armey (R., Tx.)
August 31, 2001, 7:25 a.m.
Under the headline, "Citing Drop in Surplus, Democrats Plan to Portray Bush as Reckless," a New York Times page one article warned on August 21 of Democrat plans to "intensify their attacks on President Bush's fiscal management and to pin blame for the weakened economy on the White House."
Yes, the very same Democrats who, while the majority party in Congress, fought against tax relief, burdened future generations with massive debt, and spent the Social Security surplus with reckless abandon, are now planning to "intensify their attacks on President Bush's fiscal management."
Some political pundits predict this Democrat attack strategy will inflict political damage on the White House and congressional Republicans. I disagree. Instead of fearing these Democrat attacks, I welcome them. I believe when the national debate is between Democrat spending schemes and Republican tax cuts, Republicans win.
And let there be no doubt what this debate is really about. It's not about dwindling surpluses or fiscal mismanagement. Many of the most outspoken Democrats attacking President Bush today presided over massive raids on the Social Security surpluses when they controlled Congress.
In fact, when Dick Gephardt served as Majority Leader, the Democrat-controlled Congress raided $326 billion of the Social Security surplus and didn't pay down one penny of debt. It took a Republican-controlled Congress to stop this practice.
It's no wonder Dick Gephardt said just one year ago, "I've been here 23 years now. I didn't utter the word surplus with any regularity until about two years ago. It was always deficit." No, the debate we are having today is the age-old debate between fiscally conservative Republicans who want to provide tax relief and bigspending Democrats who want to increase the size of government.
And the Bush tax relief program is denying the big-spenders billions of taxpayer dollars that they want to squander on their risky spending schemes. Their goal: tarnish the tax relief plan, raise taxes, and spend more money.
It's the Economy, Stupid
Democrats who only recently scoffed at the notion that the economy was slowing are now trying to blame President Bush and the tax relief plan for our nation's economic woes. While Democrats wring their hands and point fingers, they are avoiding the real truth - President Bush inherited from Bill Clinton an economy in decline.
Economic growth during Bill Clinton's last year in office plummeted from 5.7 percent during the second quarter of 2000 to just 1.9 percent during the fourth quarter. Even before President Bush was sworn into office working men and women across the country were growing anxious as they watched their 401(k)s and mutual funds shrink as their energy bills doubled, tripled, and in some places quadrupled.
In addition, the technology sector, which had been the driving force in the economy, began its collapse during the Clinton presidency. The decline of the NASDAQ, dotcom bankruptcies and numerous announcements of slowing profit growth in technology all began well before George Bush took the oath of office.
Higher interest rates imposed by a Federal Reserve obsessed with inflation also had a negative impact on our nation's economy. The Fed raised interest rates in February, March and May 2000 along with other central banks around the world. Higher rates reduced business investment and reduced consumer purchases of big-ticket items such as homes and automobiles.
Our nation's economy also suffered under Bill Clinton due to hikes in the price of energy. Back in early January, the price of crude oil had reached $28 a barrel - about double its price in 1999. The price of natural gas had quadrupled and California's energy prices were reaching crisis proportions. According to a January Federal Reserve press release, high energy prices were "sapping household and business purchasing power." All before George Bush took the oath of office.
Spending Greatest Threat to Surpluses
On Sunday, August 19, House Minority Leader Dick Gephardt appeared on Meet the Press and told Tim Russert that he would consider an across-the-board spending cut to protect the surpluses. Oh, really? I don't know about you, but I'm not going to hold my breath while I wait for Dick Gephardt and his Democrat colleagues to cut spending. The vast majority of congressional Democrats don't want to reduce government spending. They're not interested in eliminating government waste or cutting oversized bureaucracies. Their record speaks for itself. It is this Democrat spending and their hunger for bigger government that is the greatest threat to Social Security and Medicare. And that hunger has already had a significant impact on budget surpluses.
For example, during negotiations over this year's appropriation bills, the Clinton White House held the budget hostage forcing House Republicans to accept more than $25 billion in spending beyond the funding levels enacted by the House. In fact, during the current fiscal year, non-defense discretionary spending increased 14.1 percent while family incomes grew just 2.7 percent and Social Security benefits grew 3.5 percent.
Because spending increases lead to larger government and greater spending far into the future, that 14.1 percent one-year increase reduced the projected surplus by $254.4 billion between 2002 and 2011. In addition, during fiscal year 2001, total discretionary government spending increased $52 billion while tax relief totaled only $40 billion.
While the Democrats pushed for more spending, they did nothing to relieve the American people's anguish about the declining economy. They did nothing to stimulate economic growth. Nothing to create jobs. Nothing to bring down skyrocketing energy prices.
Even when the Federal Reserve finally decided to cut interest rates, many on the other side of the aisle proclaimed that Congress' role was to do nothing. Let the Fed bear responsibility for the faltering Clinton economy. (Rep. Charles Rangel, the Democrat's leader on tax policy, warned last January that a tax cut could "overheat the economy.")
No, Democrats had no program to help the American people and our sluggish economy then, and they have no program now. Big government is a basic tenet of their political ideology. So during the coming weeks, their only plan is to convince the American people that the $40 billion tax cut, not the $52 billion spending increase, is the greater economic threat.
They want Americans to feel guilty about receiving their tax refunds. They want to repeal the Bush tax cut. And they want to spend it on more government.
Bring 'Em On
Dick Gephardt and his big-spending colleagues routinely spent the Social Security surplus when Gephardt was House Majority Leader and the Democrats controlled the Congress. The total raid under Gephardt's leadership: $326 billion.
When the economy started to decline during Bill Clinton?s presidency, the former President and his Democrat congressional allies did nothing. No pro-growth tax cuts. No comprehensive energy bill. No major trade promotion initiatives. Nothing!
It took a Republican President and a Republican Congress to respond to America's needs and to take steps necessary to revitalize our sluggish economy. We quickly enacted a package of pro-growth tax cuts that will spur economic growth and put money back in the pockets of working Americans who need it. There is nothing Congress can do that would do more than tax cuts to grow the economy and create new and better jobs.
To repeal the tax cuts now, as the Democrats want, would spell disaster for our struggling economy. We won't let that happen.
It also took a Republican president and a Republican Congress to develop and pass a comprehensive energy plan. The President submitted his plan. The House passed it. (It currently languishes in the Senate.)
When the Congress returns we will continue our efforts on behalf of the American people. In the House, we will pass legislation to make the tax cuts permanent. And we will pass legislation to give the President trade promotion authority to spur economic growth and improve the quality of life through free trade.
What will congressional Democrats be doing while we're fighting for the American people and a strong economy? They will be fighting to repeal the tax cut and push for more spending.
And that's a fight I want to have. See you next week.>> |
