We'll find out in the next few weeks as House leaders work on budget legislation.
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Amazingly, the GOP has been forced to sit silently as Democrats now paint themselves as the party of fiscal responsibility and portray Republicans as eager spendthrifts intent on running up massive federal deficits.
And the fact is, the latter half of that observation is hard to dismiss.
Spending under President Bush and the Republican Congress is out of control. Yes, the GOP has pushed tax cuts -- though not as aggressively or extensively as it should have -- but the supposed party of smaller government has fallen prey to the perks of power by embracing virtually any spending program that might preserve its vote total.
Some of this budget busting is a result of the war in Iraq and homeland security concerns. But the fact remains that even most legislation intended to defend the country against terrorists has been laden with pork.
Finally, though, Republicans appear to be paying attention to their philosophical roots. In a closed door meeting last Thursday night, they agreed to insist on some semblance of spending restraint. Instead of settling on $35 billion in reductions to projected increases in entitlement programs, GOP House members bumped the target to $50 billion. In addition, House Budget Committee Chairman Jim Nussle, R-Iowa, said he wants to expand a proposed 2 percent across-the-board budget reduction to both defense and homeland security programs, which had previously been exempted.
These are worthwhile goals -- and if Democrats don't agree, the GOP should eagerly highlight the insincerity of the opposition's devotion to fiscal austerity. (Does anybody think we wouldn't be running up even bigger deficits if liberal Democrats controlled the White House and Congress?)
Thanks to the Bush tax cuts and a vibrant economy, the $317 billion federal deficit came in $100 billion less than it did in 2004 -- and $14 billion less than the Congressional Budget Office predicted just two months ago.
If our representatives in Washington are serious about making further improvements, they should expand the Bush tax cuts and embrace the modest attempts by the House leadership to get a handle on spending.
