Is Bush's spending out of control?

USA Today (Society for the Advancement of Education), March, 2005

Pres. George W. Bush is fond of noting that Americans "are using their money far better than government would have" According to the Cato Institute, Washington, D.C., however, the President (and the Republican-controlled Congress)is spending record amounts of taxpayer money.

In "The Republican Spending Explosion," fiscal policy analyst Veronique de Rugy examines the President's Fiscal Year 2005 budget and details the reckless spending spree of his first four years in office. De Rugy notes that, since the GOP took control of Congress in 1994, nondefense discretionary outlays have grown every year except FY1996. Moreover, since the Republicans took control of both ends of Pennsylvania Avenue, the spending has accelerated.

Only Pres. Lyndon Johnson--a Democrat--outspent Bush, according to the report. However, the author notes, Congress also shoulders some of the blame for the anticipated 25% increase in discretionary nondefense spending during Bush's first term, only a portion of which has been for homeland security, in the wake of the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. Much of the tab comes from expansion of domestic programs, such as No Child Left Behind. The Bush Administration also signed into law the biggest entitlement expansion of Medicare since the inception of the program 40 years ago.

De Rugy, who contends that these high outlays cannot be sustained, calls on the President and congressional Republicans to return to their limited government roots and curb the rampant redistribution of taxpayers' money. "After an initial spending freeze, Republicans in Congress should pursue significant reductions in both discretionary and entitlement spending," she asserts. "Republicans often claim to be the party of smaller government, but on big government spending and trade restrictions, it is hard to see how a Democratic administration would have been worse than the Bush Administration in recent years."