Bush Promises To Get Tough On Spending

• October 26, 2005

President Bush, address the Republican National Committee Dinner yesterday:

Congress needs to get this message, that we will be wise with the taxpayers' money. If a program doesn't work, we ought to eliminate it. And if a program doesn't make sense, we ought to do away with it. And we need to set priorities, and a key priority is defending this homeland.
Ken [Mehlman] mentioned to you that the -- because of our fiscal responsibility in Washington last year, and because of the tax cuts, and because of our economic growth, the budget was $108 billion less than expected -- the budget deficit was $108 billion less than expected. Our plan is working. And I'm absolutely confident, by being wise with your money we can help the people in the Gulf Coast recover from Katrina. (Applause.)
Here's our plan. To help offset the cost of Katrina we need to cut non-security spending and achieve savings in mandatory spending. The House has got plans on the mandatory side that say $50 billion; the Senate has got plans that say $35 billion. I appreciate them working hard, it's a nice start. And there's more we can do together to say to the American people we are setting priorities with your money and we're going to spend it wisely and we'll cut this deficit in half by 2009.

This is all well and good, and I certainly hope that the President and Congressional Republicans do more than just talk about this, but maybe we wouldn’t be in this situation where we need to cut the budget had Congress adhered to some fiscal restraint and the President used his veto a couple of times to send back some of these big-spending bills that have passed recently.
I mean, I appreciate this re-dedication to fiscal conservative values, but things should have been this way from the beginning.

Tags: Politics

http://porkopolis.blogspot.com/2005_10_01_porkopolis_archive.html Porkopolis: Rants on Pork Barr

&heellip; President on Spending: Yada, Yada, Yada This is all talk until we see bills vetoed and specific spending recommendations. From President Addresses Republican National Committee Dinner:…Congress needs to get this message, that we will be wise with the taxpayers’ money. If a program doesn’t work, we ought to eliminate it. And if a program doesn’t make sense, we ought to do away with it. And we need to set priorities, and a key priority is defending this homeland. Ken [Mehlman] mentioned to you that the — because of our fiscal responsibility in Washington last year, and because of the tax cuts, and because of our economic growth, the budget was $108 billion less than expected — the budget deficit was $108 billion less than expected. Our plan is working. And I’m absolutely confident, by being wise with your money we can help the people in the Gulf Coast recover from Katrina.(Applause.)Here’s our plan. To help offset the cost of Katrina we need to cut non-security spending and achieve savings in mandatory spending. The House has got plans on the mandatory side that say $50 billion; the Senate has got plans that say $35 billion. I appreciate them working hard, it’s a nice start. And there’s more we can do together to say to the American people we are setting priorities with your money and we’re going to spend it wisely and we’ll cut this deficit in half by 2009….$50 billion? We’re already in the whole $62 billion with Katrina alone just for immediate relief.Hat Tip: Say Anything &heellip;
Seth Williams

Kudos to him for even mentioning it, but I, too, am skeptical.

My fear is that the pols. in Washington will think that fiscal responsibility begins and ends with Katrina relief. It doesn’t.
richard

I got $5 that says the deficit not only grows but that we hear the same speech again about this time next year.

Rob is spot on here the should have been adhering to fiscal responsibility from day one.

There is no reason to think that this trend will ever go away.

SayAnythingBlog.com

Bush Promises To Get Tough On Spending

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