Back in 1991 freshman congressman Jim Nussle appeared on the floor wearing a paper bag over his head to protest the Rubbergate scandal, in which House members had been writing bad checks from the House bank. Since then Nussle became the chairman of the Budget Committee in 2001, and has taken over the job of writing bad checks for the entire nation.
During his tenure as Budget Committee Chairman Nussle has turned a projected 10 year $5.6 trillion budget surplus into a $2.6 trillion deficit, adding to the crushing national debt of over $7 trillion. Yet Nussle still touts himself as a fiscal conservative.
Now Nussle has set his sights on the 2006 Iowa Governor’s race, with the overwhelming support of Iowa House and Senate Republicans behind him. He should be reminded that Iowa can’t run these huge budget deficits; we don’t have the Federal Treasury to print money, and cover our bad checks.
In the Mob the bag man’s job is to collect money. But Nussle sees his job as just the opposite. He rationalizes the $106 billion in tax cuts factored in to the 2006 budget resolution as ultimately increasing federal revenues. Tax cuts = growth = increased revenue. His thinking echoes that behind Iowa Republicans sole solution to any problem facing state government: tax cuts, tax cuts, tax cuts. But this kind of overly simplistic Never-Neverland economic theory doesn’t stand up to the harsh realties of real world economics. Jim Nussle should stay in Washington; Iowa’s budget just can’t handle a hapless bag man.
