Democrats admit it was all a big confidence game.
“Democrats are committed to ending years of irresponsible budget policies that have produced historic deficits. Instead of compiling trillions of dollars of debt onto our children and grandchildren, we will restore pay-as-you-go budget discipline.”–Speaker Nancy Pelosi, December 12, 2006
The AMT relief bill was the end of Paygo:
The AMT was never supposed to hit the middle class, and it only does so now because the Democrats who designed it failed to index it for inflation and raised AMT rates under Bill Clinton in 1993. With the economy in a slowdown, the last thing anyone needs now is a tax hike. The budget deficit is a little above 1% of GDP, which is below the 25-year average, and should remain so as long as the economy keeps growing.
Paygo doesn’t apply to domestic discretionary spending, and it doesn’t restrain spending increases under current law in entitlements like Medicare and Medicaid. Its main goals are to make tax cutting all but impossible, while letting Democrats pretend to favor “fiscal discipline,” a la Ms. Pelosi’s boast above.
Since the day they took the gavel, Democrats have been using gimmick after gimmick to evade it. The Schip bill for health care, for example, includes a spending “cliff” that disguises its actual cost. It assumes spending would rise to $14 billion in 2012, but then pretends the costs would fall to less than half that level in 2013–which just so happens to fall outside the five-year budget scoring window. Some $60 billion in spending over the next 10 years were hidden through this ploy.
Then there is the House farm bill awaiting action in the Senate. That spending marathon includes between $5 billion and $10 billion in fictitious paygo savings by shifting the date of farm aid payments from one year to another. If a Fortune 500 CEO did that sort of thing, he’d be indicted.
In any case, they’ll have to reckon with New York Democrat Chuck Schumer, who helped doom paygo in the Senate. Mr. Schumer runs the Senate Democratic campaign committee, and he’s raised boatloads of cash from hedge funds and private equity while winking that he can block the House’s tax increase on their “carried interest.” Let’s see: Paygo, or more cash to elect more Democrats. Which do you think wins?
Hillary Clinton in particular has made paygo a major campaign theme because it makes her sound like a fiscal conservative while helping to justify tax increases. But, lo, guess who was missing on Thursday when the Senate voted 88-5 to ignore paygo on the AMT? None other than the candidate herself, along with Chris Dodd, Joe Biden and Barack Obama.
H/T to Memeorandum for the link to this
Ed Morrissey:
Until paygo applies to the entire federal budget, it’s nothing more than a three-card Monty i terms of fiscal discipline. No wonder the Democrats gave it up so easily.
Betsy’s Page:
Of course, the Democrats would be all for paygo rules again when it comes to talking about keeping the Bush tax cuts. But we’ll need to remember what a farce it’s been all year to answer their rhetoric when they start talking about their paygo fiscal conservatism.
Trackposted to Stop the ACLU, Outside the Beltway, The Virtuous Republic, Rosemary’s Thoughts, Right Truth, The Pet Haven Blog, Shadowscope, Stuck On Stupid, The Amboy Times, Leaning Straight Up, Chuck Adkins, Pursuing Holiness, The Uncooperative Radio Show! Special Weekend!, Adeline and Hazel, , third world county, Woman Honor Thyself, DragonLady’s World, Pirate’s Cove, Celebrity Smack, The Pink Flamingo, CommonSenseAmerica, Church and State, Blog @ MoreWhat.com, The Random Yak, 123beta, Adam’s Blog, , The Bullwinkle Blog, Big Dog’s Weblog, Cao’s Blog, Phastidio.net, , Nuke’s, Diary of the Mad Pigeon, Faultline USA, The World According to Carl, Blue Star Chronicles, Global American Discourse, Wolf Pangloss, High Desert Wanderer, and The Yankee Sailor, thanks to Linkfest Haven Deluxe.
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[…] Right Voices: “Hillary Clinton in particular has made paygo a major campaign theme because it makes her sound like a fiscal conservative while helping to justify tax increases. But, lo, guess who was missing on Thursday when the Senate voted 88-5 to ignore paygo on the AMT? None other than the candidate herself, along with Chris Dodd, Joe Biden and Barack Obama.” […]
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[…] Right Voices » Blog Archive » Another Boken Promise…Paygo Was Just A Joke BTW // Monday, December 10, 2007 at 07:24 […]
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