ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Wednesday, February 7, 1996 TAG: 9602070020
SECTION: EDITORIAL PAGE: A-6 EDITION: METRO
DEMOCRAT L.F. Payne's decision to depart the U.S. House, announced this week, is widely regarded as another example of a new phenomenon: "moderates" preferring retirement to continued life in an increasingly polarized political environment.
Certainly since his first election in 1988, Payne has represented Virginia's 5th District thoughtfully and effectively, and without identifying with ideological extremes. But the conventional take on his retirement from Congress may be too simplistic.
First, it implies something unusual about wanting to serve only eight years in Congress. In fact, Payne's stay is not far off the average.
Second, it implies something abnormal about a life not utterly consumed by politics. Like retired Congressman Jim Olin of the adjacent 6th District, who served 10 years and quit, Payne entered politics only after a career as a successful businessman. If politics as a secondary occupation isn't closer to the rule than the exception, it probably should be.
Third, Payne at age 50 has hardly closed the door on future political involvement. Indeed, he has immediately become the leading, albeit informal and unannounced, candidate for the Democratic nomination for lieutenant governor in 1997. Not only would that give rural Virginia a spot on a major-party statewide ticket; it also would raise the prospect of a Payne gubernatorial nomination in 2001. Both are welcome thoughts.
Finally, the term "moderate" as used nowadays is, like "liberal" or "conservative," a loose label that can obscure as much as enlighten.
In one sense, to be a "moderate" is to be a compromiser or conciliator. Splitting the difference is a necessary part of legislating, and Payne at times has done that, especially as a member of the Ways and Means Committee.
Or to be a "moderate" can mean to focus less on policies and platforms than on the practical, narrow interests of constituents. Payne also has at times done that - in his defense of his dis-
trict's tobacco interests, too much so.
But if "moderate" is understood to mean conciliatory to the exclusion of consistency, or parochial to the exclusion of principle, then Payne hasn't been a moderate. His record in Congress shows a consistent, underlying principle: a commitment to sound federal finances, not as a tool for dismantling government but as a way of helping to ensure government's effectiveness in serving the people.
The balanced-budget proposal worked up by Payne and his fellow "Blue Dog Democrats" is a good case in point. It isn't perfect. But neither is it merely a split-the-difference compromise between presidential proposals and those of congressional Republicans. It is better than the others. It reduces deficits faster, adds to the debt more slowly, yet provides a softer landing for necessary reforms in programs like Medicare and Medicaid on which millions of Americans rely.
The "Blue Dog" budget can do all this because it not only reduces the rate of spending growth but also recognizes the absurdity of cutting taxes while you're supposedly trying to balance the budget. "Moderate"? Maybe. It's also common sense.
LENGTH: Medium: 59 linesby CNB