Copyright 2000 Journal Sentinel Inc.
Milwaukee
Journal Sentinel
September 10, 2000 Sunday ALL EDITIONS
SECTION: CROSSROADS; Pg. 04J
LENGTH: 711 words
HEADLINE:
Despite all the promises, big government hasn't shrunk;
By GREGORY STANFORD
BYLINE: GREGORY D. STANFORD of the Journal Sentinel
staff
BODY:
Conservatives were jumping for joy
when, with oratory blazing like six- shooters, Newt Gingrich and his gang took
over the House. They brandished the "Contract with America," which promised a
leaner federal bureaucracy.
Well, the jig is up. The anti-government
Cato Institute has exposed the fraud: The government grew fatter, not leaner in
the six ensuing years. What's more, the think tank heaps more of the blame on
the Republicans in Congress than on the Democrat in the White House. Keep in
mind that the libertarian institute is a kissing cousin of the congressional
GOP. So, the Republicans were just woofing -- which should be of no surprise.
After all, promises to cut government always flow during campaign season like
beer at a Packers game. Still, government rarely shrinks.
Vows to pare
government carry about as much worth as oaths to simplify the tax code. That's
right, Virginia, that won't happen, either -- even were Steve Forbes, preacher
of simplification, elected president. After all, simplification efforts of the
past have led to their own complications.
The math goes this way:
Politicians need tons of cash to win and to keep their offices. Wealthy donors
want special treatment in the tax code. Ergo, the code stays complicated. What's
more, believe it or not, some of the wrinkles serve the public good.
Downsizing government is the granddaddy of the promises politicians
break. Even the lean-and-mean Reaganites of the 1980s succumbed. Back then, the
Republicans would rap the Democrats for taxing and spending but then proceed to
borrow and spend. Both ways, government balloons. But under the Republican
approach, so does the national debt.
Oh, sure, some programs do fall. In
that respect, the Gingrich gang is like a playground bully who picks only on
smaller kids. The gang targets programs without powerful sponsors.
Remember how the congressional GOP used to grouse about all the
entitlements that were gobbling up the budget. Entitlements are programs for
which you are eligible to get aid simply by virtue of your circumstances.
Well, with help from the White House, the Gingrich gang did manage to
end a grand total of one entitlement. Guess which one. Yep, a guarantee of help
for poor kids.
They dared not mess with the elderly, whose political
muscles bulge. Hence, pensions for the nation's workers and vets remain intact.
So does Medicare, medical insurance for the elderly. The companion
Medicaid remains standing, too. Though initially designed for the non-elderly
poor, Medicaid has morphed into a sacred cow. Most of the benefits now go to the
elderly, for nursing home care.
Some Republicans griped about the earned
income tax credit, which helps the working poor make ends meet. It's just
another welfare program, harrumphed Majority Leader Dick Armey. But it escaped
the chopping block.
Oddly, the Cato report skips over the entitlements.
The report features a cool title: "The Return of the Living Dead: Federal
Programs That Survived the Republican Revolution."
It notes that the GOP
drew up a hit list for 200 government programs. Though most were tiny, the list
included three cabinet agencies: the departments of Education, Energy and
Commerce.
Only Energy took a blow, but not a fatal one. To the
institute's dismay, the Republicans even gave Education more money than the
Clinton administration sought. All told, spending grew by 13% for the 95
programs the institute studied from the hit list.
The Cato report
notwithstanding, many of the targeted programs deserve funding. For instance,
the Legal Services Corp. gives the needy often vital lawyerly
help. But reflecting its disdain for the poor, Congress took a big bite out of
the program.
The report correctly rips Republicans, however, for
lavishing money on pork barrel projects, as when Gingrich had the Pentagon
buying planes it had not sought because the manufacturing plant sits in his
Georgia district.
So long as the Republicans target just the programs
aimed at the powerless, government won't shrink. After all, the powerless
consume just a sliver of the $1.79 trillion federal budget.
------------
Gregory Stanford is a Journal Sentinel editorial
writer and columnist. His e-mail address is gstanfor@onwis.com
LOAD-DATE: September 13, 2000
