Budget Watchdogs Bash Bush's Fuzzy Math

I'm not going to harp about this all day, I promise, but I do want to make note of a new development in the "Fiscal Trickery" situation I wrote about earlier in the day. A coalition of budget watchdog groups has released a joint open letter to President Bush asking him to veto the highway bill based on the rescission provision as well as the huge number of earmarks included.

The letter has been endorsed by the leaders of the National Taxpayers Union, Citizens Against Government Waste, Americans for Prosperity, Taxpayers for Common Sense Action, The Club for Growth, and FreedomWorks. I may not agree with this bunch 100% of the time, but on this, they're on the money (literally).

Of the rescission gimmick, the groups note correctly that it "masks the total cost of the bill," and adds that "it is likely that supporters of the legislation are simply waiting for a future Congress and Administration to fill this funding hole." It's not likely - that's exactly what they're doing.

The earmarks and "special projects" come in for criticism as well: "There are nearly 6,500 member-requested projects worth more than $24 billion, nearly nine percent of the total spending. President Reagan vetoed a transportation bill in 1987 because there were 152 such earmarks. In addition to driving up the overall cost of the bill, many of these projects are not related to improving our nation’s transportation system. Their inclusion also represents micro-management of transportation decision-making that is better left to state and local interests."

The groups conclude their statement by saying "All of us vividly recall the controversy surrounding cost estimates that occurred shortly after you signed the Medicare prescription drug benefit into law more than two years ago. Signing this transportation bill, whose actual “hidden” cost could well exceed the amount you pledged to veto, will only re-ignite this controversy and erode the public credibility of your Administration’s worthy goal of cutting the budget deficit in half by the year 2009. H.R. 3 is full of wasteful spending and uses budget gimmicks that hide the true cost to taxpayers. We urge you to veto it, so Congress can craft a fiscally responsible transportation bill."

I agree. This president and this Congress must get serious about fiscal discipline. To prove to Congress that he is serious, the president is going to have wield the veto pen. I may not share priorities too often with all the groups who've signed onto this letter, but we are allies today.

*Hat tip on the letter to RedState.