Opinion: Budget Talks Secrecy

From The Heritage Foundation, I’m Ernest Istook.

The public is being told almost nothing about the closed-door budget talks at the White House.

They claim they’ve agreed on a trillion dollars in spending cuts, but that’s tough to believe because they refuse to give us any details. Washington is notorious for exaggerating claims about supposed savings. Too late we learn a plan is full of gimmicks and the actual savings are relatively tiny.

The usual gimmick is to count promises to make major cuts in the future—but not right now.

That supposed trillion in savings might be spread out over ten years—meaning it would be only be 7 percent of our annual deficit spending. That’s nowhere near enough.

We deserve clear and detailed progress reports. And if they reach a deal, we’d better see all the details long before they vote. When they try to rush things through, it means they’ve got something to hide.

From The Heritage Foundation, I’m Ernest Istook.

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