LEADERS WHO WON'T CHOOSE

摘要

Adversity builds character," goes the old adage. excep that in America today we seem to be following the opposite prin ciple. The worse things get, the more frivolous our response. president Bush explains that he will spend hundreds of billions of dollars rebuilding the Gulf Coast without raising any new revenues. Re publican leader Tom DeLay declines any spending cuts because "there is no fat left to cut in the federal budget." This would be funny if it weren't so depressing. What is happening in Washington today is business as usual in the face of a national catastrophe. The scariest part is that we've been here before. After 9/11 we have created a new government agency, massively increased domestic spending and fought two wars. And the president did all this without rolling back any of his tax cuts—in fact, he expanded them—and refused to veto a single congressional spending bill. This was possible because Bush inherited a huge budget surplus in 2000. But that's all gone. The cupboard is now bare.