Friday, September 23, 2005
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal

Ensign: Spending cuts needed now

Nevada senator, five other Republicans urge scaling back by 5 percent as storm costs surge

WASHINGTON -- Sen. John Ensign joined five other Republican senators on Thursday in calling for a 5 percent cut in the federal budget, saying he would consider revoking tax cuts if necessary to pay for hurricane damage to the Gulf Coast.

The Nevadan also prodded President Bush to exhibit stronger leadership in finding ways to cut federal spending.

"This really is the time for the president to use the bully pulpit to ask the American people to sacrifice, and to ask the leaders of the Congress to set (budget) priorities in a different way than we are setting them now so that we don't pass this debt on to future generations," he said.

Ensign's comments reflected growing unrest among conservative Republicans that the White House is not being sufficiently aggressive in addressing a federal deficit that is soaring in the face of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita.

Ensign spoke at a news conference including five other Republican senators: Tom Coburn of Oklahoma; Jim DeMint and Lindsey Graham, both of South Carolina; John McCain of Arizona; and John Sununu of New Hampshire.

Except for defense and homeland security, the senators back an across-the-board spending cut of 5 percent. They also favor reserving 1 percent of the budget as a contingency fund to be used by the president and Congress for priority programs.

Ensign estimated that the proposal could save between $15 billion to $20 billion, money that could help pay for the costs of Hurricane Katrina.

The senators advocated a two-year delay in the Medicare prescription drug benefit program, which is scheduled to begin in January. The delay would not apply to low-income senior citizens, Ensign said.

They also urged cutting specific projects from the $286.4 billion highway bill that Bush signed into law last month.

McCain said costs from Katrina and Rita are expected to raise the federal deficit to $500 billion.

Coburn said the senators plan to offer a package of spending cuts within two weeks.

"Without the president leading the way to try to show specifics to bring us a package (of spending cuts) forward, I don't know that we'll have a chance of success," Ensign said.

White House spokesman Ken Lisaius said the president has directed Office of Management and Budget Director Josh Bolten to work with Congress to find budget cuts to pay for the costs of Katrina.

"We have seen people coming forward with any number of good ideas," Lisaius said. "We believe this is a multi-step process that starts first with spending cuts to offset the expense of Katrina."

If spending cuts are not enough to pay for damage to the Gulf Coast, Ensign said he would be open to rolling back the president's tax cuts.

"We're not taking anything off the table," Ensign said.

On Monday, Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid of Nevada said he would not consider federal spending cuts until Bush withdraws tax cuts. But the White House soundly rejected the idea, saying tax cuts spur economic development.