In today’s Washington Post, David Broder laments Congress abandonment of its long-term budgeting responsibilities.
On June 30, the Congressional Budget Office issued its long-term outlook, predicting that deficits would come down for the next few years as the need for counter-recession spending eased and revenue improved. But then, it warned, “unsustainable” red ink would flow again, creating debts not seen since World War II.
The next day the House of Representatives passed a one-year budget resolution rather than the normal blueprint committing the government to a fiscal plan of at least five years.
For all the publicity that goes to earmarks and other spending gimmicks, this was a far worse dereliction of duty. And the cynicism of the maneuver just made it worse.
The terrible irony in all this? More and more people are seeing that what this agonizing situation requires is a limited and temporary measure to pump more life into the economy and create jobs, along with a serious commitment to impose real spending discipline and hold down deficits in the long term — exactly what a five-year budget resolution could provide.
Of all the times for Congress to abandon its responsibility for long-term fiscal planning, this is the worst.
Click here to read the full column.
