Voinovich isn’t letting up on criticism of spending

Another federal budget and another speech from U.S, Sen. George V. Voinovich, R-Ohio, about the irresponsible spending by Congress and the Bush administration. Here’s a reality check for members of the House and Senate and the occupant of the White House: Voinovich isn’t going away quietly.

Even since the former governor of Ohio went to Washington in 1999, the national debt and the federal budget deficit have been his passion. And the more he talks about how government is mortgaging the future of our children and grandchildren, the more the American people are paying attention.

And while Voinovich’s colleagues on Capitol Hill might wish that he’d find some other preoccupation, anyone who has followed the senator’s political career from the time he was mayor of Cleveland knows that once he latches on to an issue, he doesn’t let go until he’s satisfied with the outcome.

In the case of federal spending, the senator has a simple formula that he wants Congress and the White House to adopt: For every dollar spent, there must be a $1 of revenue. That’s why he has opposed President Bush’s tax cuts and why he has criticized the Democratic controlled Senate and House. It is noteworthy that before Democrats became the majority, they pounded away at Republicans’ runaway spending.

In a speech from the floor of the Senate last week, Voinovich charged that Congress is living in a “state of denial” and that political leaders in Washington not only hide the real budget numbers from the public but fail to even mention the rising national debt.

As a result, “most Americans are clueless as to how fiscally irresponsible this Congress and administration have been.”

The senator called the federal government “the biggest credit card abuser in the world.”

Harsh words, indeed, but the message is one Voinovich has delivered each year of unbalanced budgets.

Context

What’s impressive about Voinovich’s campaign against Washington’s irresponsible spending is that he provides context.

Consider: The budget passed by Congress will increase the national debt to $11.8 trillion over the next five years — compared with the $9.4 trillion debt as of last week; the budget deficit for this year is projected at $219 billion by the Congressional Budget Office; that figure does not include the $152 billion economic stimulus package the president signed into the law in February.

Also not included in the CBO’s deficit projection is the $197 billion borrowed from the Social Security Trust Fund and other trust funds.

Finally, there will be a supplemental appropriations bill of $193 billion.

“But the deficit only describes the annual difference between revenues and outlays, and that is not what’s truly threatening our future,” Voinovich said in the speech. “It’s the cumulative, ongoing increase in our national debt that really matters. But too many in Washington pretend this debt doesn’t even exist. When was the last time you heard the president mention the national debt — or for that matter — the presidential candidates?”

But the senator isn’t just satisfied tossing out hair-raising numbers. He has introduced the Securing America’s Future Economy Commission Act to create a bipartisan commission to study the nation’s tax and entitlement systems and recommend reforms.

The goal: To put America back on a fiscally sustainable course and ensure the solvency of entitlement programs for future generations.

Although he has secured cosponsors from both parties, the Democratic leadership has not scheduled the bill for a committee hearing.

That’s a mistake — in a presidential year in which the worsening economy is the No. 1 issue.

The party that is perceived by the American people to be fiscally responsible will be the party that is rewarded.

Democrats risk taxpayers’ repudiation if they are viewed as erecting roadblocks to what is a sensible approach to dealing with this ballooning problem.