Spendaholics

TO observe that President Bush is between a rock and a hard place on spending is not to make excuses for him. The prudent statesman generally tries to steer a course that does not strand him in such treacherous places. If Bush had acted to restrain the growth of federal spending in previous years, he would not now be facing demands from an angry conservative base to cut it. If he ignores those demands, his approval ratings-which suggest that conservatives are just about the only supporters he has left-may decline still further. Acceding to them, however, may further alienate other voters.

All conservatives have heard dismal statistics about the Republican record on spending. Here are a few more. Stephen Slivinski of the Cato Institute notes that federal spending, which had fallen from 20.7 percent of the economy to 18.5 percent while Bill Clinton was facing off against a Republican Congress, has climbed to 20.2 percent since Bush took office. Brian Riedl calculates that domestic spending-spending excluding defense and homeland security-has risen from 12.8 percent of GDP in 2001 to 14.5 percent in 2005. That’s higher than it was in 1995, when it was 13.5 percent. And all of this is before an expensive prescription-drug entitlement starts running.

About the Author

Ramesh Ponnuru

Ramesh Ponnuru is the editor of National Review, a columnist for the Washington Post, and a fellow at the American Enterprise Institute.

Featured Tags

TO observe that President Bush is between a rock and a hard place on spending is not to make excuses for him. The prudent statesman generally tries to steer a course that does not strand him in such treacherous places. If Bush had acted to restrain the growth of federal spending in previous years, he would not now be facing demands from an angry conservative base to cut it. If he ignores those demands, his approval ratings-which suggest that conservatives are just about the only supporters he has left-may decline still further. Acceding to them, however, may further alienate other voters.

All conservatives have heard dismal statistics about the Republican record on spending. Here are a few more. Stephen Slivinski of the Cato Institute notes that federal spending, which had fallen from 20.7 percent of the economy to 18.5 percent while Bill Clinton was facing off against a Republican Congress, has climbed to 20.2 percent since Bush took office. Brian Riedl calculates that domestic spending-spending excluding defense and homeland security-has risen from 12.8 percent of GDP in 2001 to 14.5 percent in 2005. That’s higher than it was in 1995, when it was 13.5 percent. And all of this is before an expensive prescription-drug entitlement starts running.