The Blue Dog Coalition of fiscally moderate (at leastaccording to them) lawmakers have announced their decision to endorse aBalanced Budget Amendment (BBA). To which we say, smart move, but what took youso long?
The Blue Dogs, which pride themselves as “independent voicesfor fiscal responsibility”, had come to look like Democratic lap dogs for thepast few years. Of the 53 Blue Dogs who served in the 111thCongress, 43 voted in favor of the stimulus bill, 41 voted in favor of the autobail-out, 28 voted for Obama’s health care reform bill, and 22 voted for Capand Trade.
When the Blue Dogs’ were first formed in 1995 they earned anaverage score of 52 percent in our Annual Rating of Congress. They subsequentlyplummeted to a low as 10 percent in 2007 and didn’t fare much better in our mostrecent rating, with an average score of 23 percent.
According to the NTUFoundation’s BillTally, through September of this year, the typical member ofthe Blue Dog Caucus has sponsored or cosponsored $11.9 billion in spendingincreases and $1.6 billion in cuts, for a net spending agenda of $10.3 billion.
So when Blue Dog co-chairman Rep. Mike Ross (D-AR) brags, “Wewere advancing a balanced-budget amendment when balanced-budget amendmentsweren’t cool,” we’d ask, why not oppose the stimulus or health care reform beforeit was cool? And you know what would be reallycool? Not proposing to spend an additional $10.3 billion per member.
But if looking cool was their strong suit, perhaps the BlueDogs wouldn’t have lost 22 races in the 2010 elections.
Nevertheless, we commend the Blue Dog Democrats for makingwhat should be a no-brainer choice in supporting a BBA. Congress hasdemonstrated over the past decade that is simply unable to avoid the temptationto spend money we don’t have and things we don’t need.
And while the amount of spending and the level of taxation aretwo variables that the parties vehemently disagree about, the desire to reducethe debt is a unifying concern. That is exactly the problem the BBA seeks to getat. Reducing our debt shouldn’t be a partisan issue. As Rep. Steny Hoyer (who ironically is nowwhipping against the bill) said in 1995, “The issue of a balanced budget is nota conservative one or a liberal one, and it is not an easy one, but it is anessential one.”
For their part, the electorate agrees. A recentCNN poll finds that 74 percent of Americans, including 63 percent ofDemocrats and 65 percent of independents, support a BBA.
And although the favorable politics may be a driving factorbehind Blue Dogs’ support, at least they, unlike their fellow Democrats havetaken the time to listen to what Americans want. Or perhaps Rep. Hoyer waswrong, perhaps a balanced budget is now solely a conservative issue.