In a recent letter to his constituents, Rep. Baron Hill, D-9th, referred to the Democratic Blue Dog Coalition as “fiscally conservative.” To be accurate, he must have meant that the Dogs are fiscally conservative in comparison to most other Democrats. There have been few fiscally conservative Republicans in Congress over the past decade – and Democrats are rarely an improvement in that category.\nFor example, in this year’s budget cycle, the Democrats have proposed $23 billion more in spending than the big-spending President George Bush, including an extra $17 billion on the War-funding bill. That works out to an additional $300 from the average family of four in higher taxes now or in the future – and is hardly the epitome of fiscal conservatism.\nWith respect to Rep. Hill in particular: he’s been given D’s or F’s by the National Taxpayers Union on his votes for government spending, the National Journal rated him at the 36th percentile and Citizens Against Government Waste gave him a 13 percent (in the category of “hostile” to taxpayers). In my book, those aren’t good grades.\nRep. Hill has recently introduced legislation entitled “The Fiscal Honesty and Accountability Act.” But first, he should start with more honesty about his own fiscal views. If not, voters should provide the accountability in the next election.
Eric Schansberg\nProfessor of Economics, IU Southeast\nJeffersonville, Ind.
