Playing With The Testicles Of The Universe
There are times that George W. Bush's audacity on budget matters is truly breathtaking.
The president last week said that Congress hadn't done enough to slow the growth of earmarks and had directed OMB Director Jim Nussle to consider ways not to spend the designated funds.
Never mind that this is the same president who over the previous six years signed every appropriations bill sent to him by the Republican Congress and, therefore, explicitly approved of and presided over the largest increase in earmarked spending in U.S. history. Never mind that, when he was chairman of the House Budget Committee, Nussle did nothing to stop earmarks from happening. And never mind that when he ran for governor in Iowa, Nussle boasted about the earmarks he obtained for projects in that state.
Apparently, that was then and this is now.
The White House needs to be careful on earmarks because the politics are anything but clear. Indeed, much of the coverage since the fiscal 2008 omnibus appropriation was enacted last week and the president went on his rant was about spending important for local areas...that is, earmarks...that either were or were not included in the bill. For example, take a look at this, this, this, and this, all from just the past day or so.
The president's announcement that he had asked Nussle to look into ways to avoid spending the funds included in earmarks is almost certainly an empty statement that will be barely implemented. Although many of the earmarks are included in report language rather than in the statute itself and so are not legally required, the politics of the situation will make that extremely difficult for the White House to do. Most earmarks are implicit agreements between the agency or department being funded and the appropriations committees. The White House might prefer the funds not being spent, but the agencies and departments know that they are the ones who will bear the pain of not doing so when they next want something from Congress.
This will especially be the case next year, that is, in the last year of this administration, as the agencies and departments begin to consider life after George Bush leaves office. Agency officials below the presidential appointee level will begin to see cooperating more with their congressional overseers than the White House as the smart move. As a result, the earmarks will be spent.
Brian Reidl at the Heritage Foundation, who has been the most outspoken on why earmarks are a blight and need to be eradicated, put out a strong report last week that is worth looking at. Brian is a friend whose work and consistency I greatly admire. This piece provides some additional information on the president's options in dealing with this issue.
