Hey There, Big Spender

Once upon a time, the GOP was seen as the party of fiscal responsibility, of fighting deficits and unchecked spending. Unfortunately, that all went out the window in the era of Bush-Republican rule in Washington. (Likewise, it's nowhere to be seen in Arnold's California, either.) And the results are devastating, not only for future generations that will be saddled with debt, but also for the GOP.

David Lightman of McClatchy Newspapers has broken down the numbers to show that George W. Bush is the biggest of all big spenders -- bigger, even, than LBJ.

When adjusted for inflation, discretionary spending — or budget items that Congress and the president can control, including defense and domestic programs, but not entitlements such as Social Security and Medicare — shot up at an average annual rate of 5.3 percent during Bush’s first six years, Slivinski calculates.

That tops the 4.6 percent annual rate Johnson logged during his 1963-69 presidency...

Discretionary spending went up in Bush's first term by 48.5 percent, not adjusted for inflation, more than twice as much as Bill Clinton did (21.6 percent) in two full terms, Slivinski reports.

And it's not just war and homeland security -- costly as those are -- that are driving up the government's bills. Spending in all areas has exploded under Bush, which makes the GOP's claims to fiscal responsibility -- as well as Democrats' prattling about "cuts to vital services" -- fatuous:

Brian Riedl, a budget analyst at the Heritage Foundation, a conservative research group, points to education spending. Adjusted for inflation, it's up 18 percent annually since 2001, thanks largely to Bush’s No Child Left Behind act.

The 2002 farm bill, he said, caused agriculture spending to double its 1990s levels.

Then there was the 2003 Medicare prescription drug benefit — the biggest single expansion in the program’s history — whose 10-year costs are estimated at more than $700 billion.

And the 2005 highway bill, which included thousands of “earmarks,” or special local projects stuck into the legislation by individual lawmakers without review, cost $295 billion.

“He has presided over massive increases in almost every category … a dramatic change of pace from most previous presidents,” said Slivinski.

Politically, this recklessness has undermined Republicans' onetime electoral advantage on tax-and-spend issues. Now, when Republicans, say, oppose SCHIP expansion as needless and expensive, they have no credibility. After all, when has that ever stopped them from spending before?

Rampant spending is a great short-term political strategy, as it buys votes for the next election. But eventually, the bills come due.