From a free-market/small-government perspective, the last eight years have been filled with disappointing moments in which Republicans have shown a lack of concern for our growing spending, debt, and deficits. These include the busting of the Budget Control Act’s budget caps, the vigorous efforts to resurrect the Ex-Im Bank, and more. Each time, these “disappointments” have arise from bipartisan cooperation.
This ugly but all-too-common bipartisanship is about to show its face once again during the next lame-duck session, which occurs whenever Congress meets after its successor is elected, but before the successor’s term begins. The old guard is on its way out, meaning that some its members don’t care much about the consequences of their actions. It’s an ideal time to push for all the stuff lawmakers were too afraid to push for fear of looking bad. It is also an ideal time to repay favors to lobbyists or help with one last favor to special interests.
Of course, it shouldn’t be a problem with a Republican majority in both the house and the senate. And yet, as everyone knows, having a Republican majority is no guarantee of seeing big government policies blocked. Over at Forbes, Freedom Partners Andy Koenig explains how having Republicans in the majority doesn’t changed the fact that Lame Duck sessions are generally a raw deal for taxpayers:
The 2012 “fiscal cliff deal,” for instance, busted the bipartisan spending caps established in the 2011 Budget Control Act, allowing for an additional $47 billion in government spending. …
2014 was no better. Once again, right in time for the holidays, a long list of wasteful federal programs received more taxpayer-funded stocking stuffers. The lame-duck spending bill included an additional $284 million to cushion the Environmental Protection Agency, including initiatives to beautify beaches and combat algal blooms in the Great Lakes; and the most heavily-lobbied bill of the year. An army of more than 200 lobbyists deployed on Capitol Hill to make sure that the $1.1-trillion package had goodies for their clients.
This year will be no different. On the table for the taking we will have a wide variety of crony programs such as a roughly $19 billion tax-extenders package (including tax breaks for NASCAR, Hollywood studios, or green energy super-powers), a taxpayer-funded bailout for insurers participating in the Affordable Care Act, as well as restoration of the Export-Import Bank’s full lending authority. We can also count on a bipartisan agreement to bust yet again the BCA budget caps.
Unfortunately, all the signs are present that Republicans will cave and give cronies and Democrats all that they want. As a starting point, they are about to agree to a short-term continuing resolution that will avoid the risk of a shutdown at the end of September but maximizes the chances of a spending binge come December. Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell, Senator Harry Reid and Representative Steny Hoyer, along with most Democrats and president Obama, all want a short-term CR. What does that tell you?
In case you were wondering, this short-term CR is of course not a return to the regular budget order that Speaker Ryan promised when he replaced John Boehner.
The right thing to do would be to pass a long-term CR — a 6-month bill — that would protect us from many egregious congressional shenanigans and get us out of the lame-duck session. That’s what a majority of Republicans in the House are hoping for. As Koenig explains in the Wall Street Journal:
But if these principled lawmakers hope to succeed, they must make their case directly to voters. Their message should be simple: The American people will make their voices heard on Nov. 8, and retiring and defeated politicians must respect their decision. Unaccountable lawmakers should not be allowed to make significant spending and taxing decisions only a month before their replacements take office.
Sen. Reid has raised the specter of a government shut down if Republicans won’t agree to a lame-duck spending binge. GOP legislators, especially in the House, should call his bluff—and force him to retire without sticking it to the taxpayer one last time.
Unfortunately, principled Republicans haven’t won many victories in the last eight years.