Are GOP Lawmakers Surrendering On Federal Spending?

IBD Editorial: Spending: In the 28 months since the budget sequester went into effect, the federal government has added more than $1.7 trillion to the national debt. No wonder lawmakers want out of this fiscal straitjacket.

'Washington is ready to spend." That's the headline in a story that ran at TheHill.com on Tuesday.

Normally this wouldn't be news. Washington is like a ravenous dog when it comes to spending. It always wants more, no matter how much you give it.

But in the current context, it's alarming. The Hill story tells how even Republicans are starting to chafe under spending caps they imposed as part of the Budget Control Act of 2011 and the sequester since 2013.

"We're living with just really low numbers without any wiggle room, any flexibility," Rep. Kay Granger, R-Texas, told The Hill. "It's really difficult."

Democrats can always be counted on to complain about strict spending limits, and President Obama pressured Congress to lift the caps and end the sequester almost as soon as he agreed to them.

But it's distressing to hear such complaints come out of the mouths of GOP lawmakers, just weeks after they approved a budget plan that promised to tighten spending even further.

It also makes no sense. The Budget Control Act did put the brakes on runaway spending. Heritage Foundation visiting fellow and IBD Brain Trust member Stephen Moore calls it "one of the most successful lids on federal spending in modern times."

Total federal outlays have remained relatively stable since 2011, and discretionary spending is down from its Keynesian stimulus peak. But this hardly means that Congress has come anywhere near finishing the job.

On its current trajectory, federal spending is on track to drive the national debt to 100% of the nation's GDP in just 22 years, according to the Congressional Budget Office, as deficits dip temporarily over the next couple of years and start climbing again.

Instead of whining about "strict" budget limits, how about focusing on waste first? Just a glance turns up example after example across the federal government.

One report found that half of the government's $80 billion spending on information technology is wasted. Federal agencies spent more than $3 billion on paid administrative leave in just three years.

A new Government Accountability Office report found that officials can't account for the $1.2 billion spent each year on mobile phones for government workers. That's billion with a "b."

Other GAO reports turned up almost $6 billion in fraudulent refund checks the IRS sends out annually, $60 billion that Medicare wastes on improper payments to doctors and hospitals, plus $18 billion in Medicaid waste.

Over the years, the GAO has found 440 duplicative, ineffective and bloated programs that could be cut back or eliminated to save $125 billion. Citizens Against Government Waste has gone much further, putting together a list of easily eliminated programs that would save $648 billion next year alone.

Lawmakers should focus on this before they cry about the lack of "wiggle room" in the federal budget.
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