Excerpt Of The Day: No One In Washington Wants To Balance The Budget

09 May, 2005 by John Hawkins

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“…There’s no one in Washington—no one with any power—trying to balance the budget.

…Balancing the budget is simply too much trouble. It requires asking unpopular questions about who deserves help, which government programs actually work—and how to pay for the rest.

…But no one wants to incur the bad publicity of taking away anything from anyone. Government programs, once created, become virtually immortal.

…In this debate, there is no high moral ground. To critics, the Republican budget strategy is “starve the beast”—cut taxes and use the resulting deficits as an excuse to squeeze spending. Agree or disagree, that’s principled; it’s a means to an end (smaller government). In practice, the real Republican strategy is more cynical—cut taxes and feed the beast.” — Robert Samuelson