The Honorable Jeb Hensarling
United States House of Representatives
132 Cannon House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515
Dear Representative Hensarling:
On behalf of the 350,000-members of the National Taxpayers Union (NTU), I write to offer our support for the budget proposal being offered by the Republican Study Committee (RSC).
It is long past time for Congress to begin to restrain spending. OMB estimates that total FY 2005 outlays will be a stunning 33 percent higher than outlays in FY 2001. And rapid spending growth has occurred all across the budget -- not just in defense and homeland security. In fact, from FY 2001 through FY 2005, spending at the Department of Education will have grown at almost twice the rate of military spending. Spending at the Department of Agriculture will have skyrocketed up 40 percent. The Department of Energy's expenditures will have jumped 36 percent. Spending at the Department of Labor will have risen by 26 percent.
The RSC budget would provide for needed restraint by reducing non-defense related discretionary spending by two percent and by calling for $57 billion more in savings than the Budget Committee's budget. Better yet, the RSC budget would dramatically enhance the possibility that Congress will actually adhere to the spending levels set out in the Budget Resolution by providing point of order protection, forcing Congress to define emergency spending, creating "Budget Protection Accounts" that would allow spending cuts to be directed towards deficit reduction or tax relief, and by providing for supermajority points of order against any non- Social Security increases in direct spending. Lastly, the RSC Budget incorporates expiring provisions of the 2001 and 2003 tax cuts.
The need for stronger enforcement mechanisms is clear from the record of the past half-decade. Despite the claims of some, budget aggregates proposed at the beginning of the year have not been adhered to during the appropriations process. For example, as we noted in our February 22nd letter to Chairman Nussle, FY 2005 outlays are projected to end up almost $80 billion above what the President requested for this year. Taxpayers can thus no longer abide by Congress passing a relatively restrained Budget Resolution, only to have Congress blow threw the limitations during the appropriations process.
Although there is indeed much to praise about the RSC's approach to budgeting and making the budget resolution enforceable, NTU would like to see more fiscal restraint brought to the areas of defense spending and homeland security. As you know, the defense budget has risen by 47 percent since 2001 and homeland security has been generously funded despite rampant problems with both management and effectiveness. While NTU recognizes the spending needs associated with the "war on terror," most of that money has come from the various supplemental spending bills passed by Congress recently. To effectively pursue fiscal restraint, we must apply this principle to all areas of the federal budget.
Please do not hesitate to contact us if we can be of assistance. NTU and its members look forward to working closely with you to make the budget as palatable as possible for taxpayers.
Sincerely,
John Berthoud
President