If you had to state the difference between the two political parties, you might be tempted to say Democrats favor more spending, Republicans favor limits on spending.
As is often the case, though, neither observation is completely correct — at least not anymore. The fact is, Republicans are as addicted to spending as Democrats.
A case in point. Last week, the Republican-controlled Senate had a chance to reduce Medicaid spending by $15 billion over five years. About $3 billion a year in cuts is miniscule to a program that has grown far beyond its goal of helping the poor with health care, and has recently become more costly than Medicare. For instance, about 40 percent of Medicaid spending now goes to pay nursing home costs for individuals, many of whom deliberately gave away their assets to qualify for the government aid.
But six Republicans and every single Democrat rejected this option. Over on the House side, spending restraint prevailed, but no thanks to 12 Republicans who sided with Democrats for more spending. Indeed, if three more Republicans had switched, the restrained budget would have failed.
The reason for this generosity is simple. The lawmakers want to get re-elected. And they figure that if they give away other people’s money to different constituent groups, they have a better chance of returning to their six-figure salaries, scores of assistants and adoration in Washington.
However, Republicans are forgetting the lessons of recent history. When Democrats controlled the House and Senate, and sometimes the presidency, spending rocketed along.
The public, though, saw little in the way of results of such spending. And which party is in the minority now?
It may be true that many Republicans came to Washington thinking it was a cesspool that needed draining. But now, too many of those same Republicans think it’s a hot tub.