LAST YEAR George Bush renounced his “no new taxes” campaign pledge, ceased his demands for a capital-gains tax cut, splintered the Republican Party, and then signed one of the largest tax increases ever—all to win congressional support for a grand-compromise deficit-reduction agreement. It would be natural to conclude from these events that there is virtually nothing Bush won’t do to conquer what he has called the cancer of big budget deficits.
But there is one action Bush refuses to take regardless of how large the federal debt grows. And that one action is to cut federal spending on domestic programs. Despite all the rhetoric of agonizing deficit-reduction efforts, the reality is that it has been nearly half a century since the White House has been occupied by so prodigious a spender as George Bush.
Comments