More empty gestures?

Friday, Dec. 24, 2010 | 2 a.m.

Fresh off their victories in November, Republicans are talking a good game about bringing fiscal conservatism to Washington. But so far, at least, it promises to be more talk than action. We’ve mentioned previously that Republicans have championed getting rid of earmarks, but many of these same “champions” were still working to slip into legislation their pet projects. Let’s also not forget all three Republican House members on the president’s deficit reduction commission petulantly voted against a plan that would have trimmed $4 trillion from the national deficit over the next decade — all because the plan didn’t address health care in a way they wanted.

Into the aforementioned mix comes an intriguing Associated Press story about an austerity pledge made by Republican House leaders, who will take control in January, to cut the budgets of individual House members, committees and leadership posts by 5 percent, which is estimated to save up to $30 million. As the AP story tells us, incoming House Majority Leader Eric Cantor is leading the way to freeze federal salaries, and the bid by House Republicans to reduce their own congressional spending is to show they’re committed to curtailing spending in Washington.

But, if past and current spending habits of Cantor and other top Republicans are any indication, they have a curious way of displaying fiscal conservatism. AP writer Ben Evans notes that Cantor has increased his congressional office’s payroll by

81 percent since being sworn in since 2001. So much for leading by example. Just in case anybody thinks Cantor is an aberration among Republicans, consider the following passage from the AP story that lists some other notable examples of congressional spending on staffs:

• “Firebrand Republican Michele Bachmann of Minnesota has for months pushed legislation to freeze what she calls ‘unconscionable’ federal salaries. Meanwhile, her own payroll jumped 16 percent between 2007, when she came to Congress, and 2009.

• “Rep. Jason Chaffetz, the Utah Republican set to lead the House subcommittee overseeing the federal workforce, says Washington must ‘figure out how to do more with less.’ But the freshman lawmaker gave his own employees an average raise of about 9 percent this year.

• “Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Okla., who has long criticized federal pay, has overseen an average jump of 8 percent per year in his office employee costs between 2006, his first full year in the Senate, and 2009.”

So just exactly where was the Republicans’ fiscal conservatism during the past eight years? Let’s not forget there have been plenty of Republicans who also thought we could start two wars and offer a Medicare drug benefit without having to pay for them.

It also was illuminating to read in that same AP story a brief analysis of the size of government. The story acknowledged that personnel costs rose

39 percent for the civilian federal workforce from 2001 to 2009, well ahead of private sector personnel costs, which rose just 25 percent in that time frame. But it’s necessary to put into perspective the size of government over the long term. The AP story says “the number of federal employees has fallen over the past 20 years from 1 for every 110 residents in 1988 to 1 for every 155 residents in 2008, according to the latest federal budget.” Furthermore, the salaries paid to federal employees are skewed when compared to the private sector. As AP mentions, in the public sector, more professionals tend to be highly paid, such as engineers and scientists, unlike the private sector, which includes lower-paid service workers, including fast-food restaurant employees.

The federal government, in the wake of the ballooning federal deficit, is going to have to be leaner in some areas. But let’s get rid of the empty, symbolic gestures and let’s start talking about meaningful change in Washington. That is something the people in this country could get behind.