Parties Swap Roles (Editorial)

As a generally conservative and pro-business newspaper, we still have a hard time understanding how the Republicans became the party of huge federal deficits and massive government, and the Democrats were the ones who balanced the budget and gave us a surplus.

This isn’t the way it’s supposed to be. Think back. When President Bush was sworn in, would anyone have believed that they were looking at the president who would propose spending more than any other president in history?

So much for campaign rhetoric and pledges to rein in government growth. Instead Bush has overseen a 27 percent jump in government spending.

It probably shouldn’t come as much of a surprise. Despite carefully crafted public images, the parties have reversed roles. Under Presidents Reagan, Bush the senior and the current president, government spending increased at a greater level than when Presidents Carter and Clinton were in office.

Certainly much of the current increase has been because of the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq and beefing up homeland security since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on America.

The $2.4 trillion budget released last week projects a $521 billion deficit for fiscal 2004. Of course, we know it will be more. While his budget also proposes cuts in many domestic programs, those aren’t likely to happen during an election year.

Want evidence? A day after Bush presented his budget, the GOP-controlled Senate passed a transportation bill that would cost $55 billion more during the next six years than Bush sought, and a bill in the House would authorize nearly $100 billion more. Ah, the power of an election year.

And while the president’s budget calls for an overall increase in spending, the main reason for the ballooning deficit is the drop in tax revenue the government is taking in — the tax cuts that account for $272 billion of the deficit. No one, of course, wants their taxes raised, although that’s probably the best solution to balancing the budget.

No doubt, however, Bush can make a campaign plank out of refusing to raise taxes.

We can’t make it any plainer than to say we’re disappointed. Even with Republicans solidly in control of Congress and the executive branch, spending has gotten out of control.

Yes, it’s just a proposal and it won’t look like this when Congress is through with it. But we hope both Republicans and Democrats come to their senses and soon.