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For Immediate Release:
March 15, 2004

A Budget For the Times

by Senator Larry Craig

Growing up on a ranch, I spent a lot of time around horses and other livestock. We always tried to take good care of our animals. We'd feed them if they were hungry and make sure they were protected when the weather got severe. If we had an ailing horse, we'd have the veterinarian examine it and follow his orders to slowly restore the creature to good health.

At such a time, making the animal pull a wagon or carry a rider would be foolish at best. The results could be disastrous for the horse's health.

Unfortunately, that's what some of my colleagues in the Senate are proposing for our national economy. Just as the economy is showing signs that it is recovering from a recession, the Democrats propose that we saddle it with billions of dollars in new taxes and still more government spending.

That is entirely the wrong idea. We need to be looking for ways to make the economy healthier, not worse. The fiscal year '05 budget resolution the Senate passed in the early hours of March 12th is an important step toward creating an economic environment in Idaho and the United States that is favorable to economic growth, not only in the stock market, but the job market as well.

Many economists agree that holding down federal spending will be an effective way to nurture the economy. The '05 budget sets targets that will hold down federal spending and cut deficits in half in three years. Non-defense and non-homeland security spending is effectively frozen, overall. As always, I believe that sound fiscal management means not overspending. You and I have to make sure that what we spend is less than, or at least, equal to our income. The more the federal government sticks to that principle, the better off our nation and our economy will be.

The budget resolution also preserves important tax relief for families, including the $1,000 per child tax credit, the marriage penalty relief, and the 10 percent income tax bracket, all of which were set to expire this year. Allowing these to expire would be, without question, a tax increase on lower and middle income families, no matter how furiously liberals try to spin it.

This gets down to a fundamental difference between the budget resolution we passed and the proposals put forth by liberal politicians and special interest groups. When the economy goes down, they propose more taxes, because they certainly won't cut spending to make up for the lost revenues.

If the economy is doing well, they propose more taxes to pay for their pet programs. They have a favorite solution to all our nation's ills: more taxes, more taxes, more taxes. Oh, and don't forget more spending!

Does this sound like a tired argument? Apparently the tax-and-spend crowd has learned little from the last 40 years. They still do not believe that private citizens, including families, senior citizens, and employers, are much more likely to do something productive with their money if you allow them to keep and use it, instead of taxing it away. These citizens are much less prone to waste than government bureaucracy. The old tax-and-spend horse had been put out to pasture, but some want to saddle it up again.

History repeats itself, and so the lesson must be repeated as well. This budget makes a good step toward fiscal responsibility and economic strength. I prefer to treat my horses well, but some of my colleagues would prefer to beat a dead one instead.

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