President Bush, please nix the earmarks

The DC Examiner beat me to the punch this morning, but the point is important enough to be spread far and wide: President Bush can wipe out billions of dollars in wasteful spending with the stroke of a pen (emphasis added):

President Bush and Republican members of Congress have a critical choice to make and very little time left in which to do it. For Bush, the choice is whether to issue an executive order directing federal departments and agencies to ignore earmarks that aren’t explicitly included in the legislative text of the recently approved $515 billion omnibus spending bill. As we noted a week ago in this space, the Congressional Research Service has advised Congress that such an executive order would with the stroke of a pen kill the thousands of earmarks that are routinely “air-dropped” into the federal budget via committee reports on spending bills. This is because the Constitution requires that all federal expenditures originate in the House and be approved by both chambers of Congress. Committee reports aren’t and so are not binding on the executive branch.

Now the merits of this are beyond question, but there is a significant political upside for the President on this.  He would accomplish several things at once (besides the obvious in saving taxpayer money and stopping the government from doing things it should not do).  Some of them, the Examiner mentioned, so I think it’s only fair to cite them:

Talk of a lame duck in the White House would cease because Bush would gain leverage to force Congress to stop talking about federal spending priorities and actually establish them. He would also bequeath to his White House successors a powerful precedent. If Congress resists, the issue will be starkly drawn for voters in an election year. The thought of Bush on the campaign trail speaking against those who opposed his effort to kill earmarks ought to be sobering. The executive order would be Bush’s finest hour and a worthy legacy on domestic issues.

As for Republicans in Congress, a Bush executive order against earmarks is probably their last slim chance to prove their claim to have gotten the message of 2006.

There are two things the Examiner editors left out: (1) it would be a nice way for the President to rebuild credibility with the Republican base - said lack of credibility being the real reason his approval rating remains doggedly below 40%- and (2) it would provide a perfect reminder of just what the Constitution allows the government to do and what it doesn’t - thus providing a terrific bridge between the majority of Republican voters and the Ron Paul supporters, both within and outside the party.

The only drawback is that Senate Republicans - who, as the Examiner noted, are still “talking and voting for earmarks as if the 2006 elections never happened” - would be nonplussed.  Well, given that nearly half of there seats are up for grabs in the upcoming elections, I’m guessing they’ll keep their complaints to themselves.

Mr. President, this is the one issue that would at last give you the political upper-hand against Congressional Democrats, because it’s the right thing to do.  Please, issue that executive order; cancel the earmarks; and bring us at least part of the way back to limited, constitutional government.

Cross-posted to the right-wing liberal

If Bill Howell and company have any guts, they’ll defund this thing pronto

Just before everyone skipped town for Christmas and New Year’s, Governor Kaine signed an executive order to “establish a Governor’s Commission on Climate Change.”  As one can read in the order, a whole slew of agencies will have resources diverted (and thus, are likely to ask for more requisite funding) in order to “cooperate fully with the Commission and provide any assistance necessary, upon request of the Commission or its staff.”

Mind you, this order comes just as it becomes clear that the planet’s temperature has been flat for the last decade.

If the Republicans in Richmond want us to believe they’ve learned their lessons from this past November, they’ll make sure the funding for this nonsense is absolutely zero, and furthermore, bar any diversion of personnel or other resources from any state agency.  Budgets are about setting priorities; this one doesn’t make the cut.

Cross-posted to the right-wing liberal

The Governor’s Budget

Governor Kaine released his budget yesterday.  On the Spothas the details (along with various snarky commentary).  The budget is part good news and part bad news, but the bad news outweighs the good news by a ton.

First, the praise: Kaine’s budget includes the smallest spending increase in a dozen years: $4 billion.  That’s an even smaller increase than Mark Warner had in his “tough” budget of 2002 (which went up $4.5B).  Kaine even left more than two billion in projected revenue unspent.

However, rather than be a symbol of frugality, the budget numbers are a warning that when it comes to limiting government, size isn’t everything.  In fact, this budget reminds me of President Bill Clinton’s 1996 State of the Union speech, in which he dramatically announced: “The era of big government is over.”  The trouble is, he meant it in terms of money spent and people employed, not in terms of programs run, regulations implemented, or freedoms curbed.  Bill Clinton spent the rest of his administration arguing not for greater freedom, but for a government more efficient in making citizens dependent upon it.

It is in this vein that one must see Governor Kaine’s budget.  It does not spend dramatically more dollars, but it does dramatically expand government’s reach into every day life.  The myriad of proposals have small spending numbers now, but they are largely down-payments for huge (and expensive) government down the line.  House of Delegates Majority Leader Morgan Griffin (hardly my favorite person, I might add), said it best in this Washington Times piece:

“The problem is when the bill comes due, we”ll still be here. But we will have a new governor,” he said. “It”s one of those, ‘I will gladly pay you tomorrow for the cheeseburger today.’ “

Contrary to popular belief, intrusive government has consequences well beyond the typical philosophical discussions about the erosion of individual freedoms and the “slippery slope.”  I talked about one of the biggest consequences in this post, but I think it bears repeating: the tens of millions of dollars in mental health funding - spawned by the Virginia Tech shootings - is the exact opposite of what needed to be done.  The most dramatic and dangerous problem today’s children face is nottoo little mental health funding or no government-funded pre-school, it’s the lack of time they spend with their parents because both are forced to work in order to pay the ever-increasing tax bills of federal, state, and local governments.

Once again, it was a quote from 1996 (and from Bob Dole, of all people) that summed up our problem best (New York Times):

In a lot of two-income families one spouse works full time to support the family, while the other works full time to support the Government. It shouldn’t have to be that way in the United States of America.

Indeed, it shouldn’t, but it is.  The average American family pays $14,000 more in taxes than their grandparents’ family did (Americans for Tax Reform); this is why the average American family can no longer feed their children and their governments on one income.

The repercussions of this are endless: single-parent households are doomed to become de facto wards of the state; two-parent households suffer with frazzled parents and children who see far less off them than they should.  Governor Kaine’s budget does nothing to alleviate this; in fact, it just makes things worse.

Cross-posted to the right-wing liberal

Governor Kaine’s Spending Spree

So Governor Kaine has decided we don’t spend enough on mental health, physical health, or education, and has responded with a over $140 million in new spending (Washington Times).

Consider me unimpressed.

One of the biggest problems we face, in Virginia and throughout the country, is governments doing things they should not be doing.  It has led to governments so large they are forcing families to become two-income households, which makes children far less attached to their parents in two-parent households (and thus more susceptible to government “help” later in life) and dooms single-parent households to near-permanent dependence on government.  Expanding goverment does not alleviate these problems, it exacerbates them.

Don’t believe me?  Take a look at the “cause” for Governor Kaine’s mental-health expansion: the case of Seung-Hui Cho, the Virginia Tech shooter.  Plenty of ink has been spilled on Cho’s life, including his mental illness.  Far less attention was paid to this item caught by the New York Times about his parents (emphasis added):

In 1992, they arrived in Detroit and then moved on to Centreville, Va., home to a bustling Korean community on the fringe of Washington. They found jobs in the dry-cleaning business and worked the longest of hours . . . The goal, of course, was to own one’s own business. But it did not happen for Seung-Tae Cho. He began as a presser — an 8 a.m.-to-10 p.m. job — and that is what he is today. His wife worked in the same capacity until a few years ago, when she accepted a job in a high school cafeteria so the family could have medical insurance.

In other words, for Cho’s “formative years,” his parents were almost never at home.  I refuse to believe that didn’t have an impact.  This is not to say the parents are to blame; families are forced into becoming two-income households for a host of reasons - chief among them the fact that the average 1990s family paid more than three times as much in taxes as the average 1950s family did (yes, that’s after adjusting for inflation - Americans for Tax Reform).  The average American couple can no longer feed their children and their government on one income.  Yet no one holds governments responsible for their ravenous tax appetite that drives spouses out of the home and into the workplace.

If Governor Kaine were truly concerned about mental health, he’d make it easier for parents to stay at home by reducing their tax burden.  As for the Virginia Tech shootings, perhaps if the school had not been allowed to violate the Second Amendment, the story would have been much different(Riley at Virginia Virtucon).

The Governor also proposed about $25 million “to subsidize health care for thousands of uninsured Virginians” (Washington Times again).  Now, I can understand Kaine’s intentions.  However, if this is so important to him, why can’t he call for charitable donations to fund this?  Keep in mind, Kaine raised more than $20 million to get the post he now has.  Would it be that much harder to get that plus $5 million - and in two years?

Of course, it’s much easier to ask 140 legislators to take other people’s money without their consent, but that doesn’t make it right.

Finally, there is the $1.65 billion in college construction bonds.  This comes as the Governor insists his new budget will not include a tax hike (although the Democratic Senate may try to do that for him).  However, with a budget of over $74 billion, the notion that we can’t find less than two-and-a-half percent in savings to avoid a bond issue is ridiculous.

If the Governor were serious about holding the line on spending, he’d rate his priorities against everything else the government does, and get rid of the things that don’t cut the mustard.  We’re still waiting for the $1.4+ billion in recommended savings from the unimplemented piece of the Wilder Commission report (VA Cost Cutting).  So, in reality, the bonds are not for new colleges, but for continuing government-run liquor shops.

The Governor will present hsi budget tomorrow.  He will likely claim that it is a monument to fiscal discipline.  Now, dear reader, you know better.

Republican Liberty Caucus Criticizes NoVA Transportation Authority

(ARLINGTON, December 1, 2007) — The newly elected chairman of the Republican Liberty Caucus of Virginia expressed his great disappointment at the decision of the Northern Virginia Transportation Authority (NVTA) to start collecting taxes before the Supreme Court of Virginia rules on their legality. 

“The NVTA is an unelected body, and as such, it is not allowed to collect taxes or fees, period,” said McGuire, who as “the right-wing liberal“  was one of the first opponents in the blogosphere of HB3202, the omnibus transportation bill passed in 2007 that authorized the taxes and fees in question.  “Under Virginia’s Constitution, those taxes and fees are illegal, and to collect them before the Supreme Court rules violates the letter and the spirit of the Constitution.”

 The Republican Liberty Caucus (RLC) is a grassroots, nationwide organization affiliated with the Republican Party (GOP). The goal of the RLC is to elect pro-liberty individuals to public office.  The RLC was founded in 1990, and now has members in every state. 

“Voters in northern Virginia made abundantly clear what they thought of these taxes and fees on November 6,” said McGuire.  “Republicans who supported them lost votes and in many cases lost their seats; Republicans who opposed them – like Delegates Bob Marshall and Jeff Frederick – increased their vote share from previous elections.  For the NVTA to do this now is a slap in the face to all northern Virginians.”

 For more information, e-mail D. J. McGuire at djmcguire_1999@yahoo.com or visit the RLC’s national web site at http://www.rlc.org.

Republican Liberty Caucus Organizes in Virginia

This blog will double as the press release repository; here’s our initial one.

(ARLINGTON, December 1, 2007) — The Republican Liberty Caucus of Virginia was reorganized today in a formal meeting taking place in conjunction with the Republican Party of Virginia’s 24th Annual Advance.  Twenty political activists from all parts of the state met to elect a new slate of officers:  D.J. McGuire of Spotsylvania County as chairman, Bert Mueller of Williamsburg as vice chairman, Rick Sincere of Charlottesville as secretary, and Cliff Dunn of Newport News as treasurer.

“Today was the beginning of the end for big government in Virginia,” said McGuire, who as “the right-wing liberal“was one of the first opponents in the blogosphere of HB3202, the omnibus transportation bill passed in 2007.  “For too long, Republicans who voted for higher taxes could claim to be friends of limited government.  Those days are over.  Thomas Jefferson lived, thrived, and died here.  His vision has lived and thrived there; we will make sure it doesn’t die here.”

The Republican Liberty Caucus (RLC) is a grassroots, nationwide organization affiliated with the Republican Party (GOP). The goal of the RLC is to elect pro-liberty individuals to public office.  The RLC was founded in 1990, and now has members in every state.

“With the loss of a majority in the state Senate and a shrinking majority in the House of Delegates, it is clear that the Virginia Republican Party needs to re-examine itself and return to its pro-liberty, small-government roots, in the tradition of Barry Goldwater and Ronald Reagan,” said McGuire.  “RLC members are Goldwater-Reagan Republicans who will work diligently to emphasize conservative principles and recruit likeminded individuals as candidates and political activists.”

The next step for the RLC of Virginia is to apply for official chartered status from the national organization, which is expected to be granted before the end of the year.

For more information, e-mail D. J. McGuire at djmcguire_1999@yahoo.com or visit the RLC’s national web site at http://www.rlc.org.

Calling all supporters of limited government

If you seethed at the Richmond Republicans who caved to Mark Warner and imposed an unnecessary and economy-crippling $1.6 billion tax hike in 2004 . . .

If your blood boiled when they did it again this spring, and combined unconstitutional regional government with imposed local tax hikes . . .

This is the Republican Liberty Caucus of Virginia; welcome home.