ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Friday, November 8, 1996 TAG: 9611080033
SECTION: EDITORIAL PAGE: A-16 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: ROB BRAZIEL
HAVING WORKED for Sen. Charles Robb for more than three years on budget and tax issues, I have certainly heard my share of comments about his career. But I can honestly say that I have never heard him likened to the lion in ``The Wizard of Oz.'' I was somewhat surprised, therefore, by Ray Garland's assessment (Sept. 12 column, ``Warner, Robb votes reflect split in philosophies'') of Sen. Robb's fiscal record as ``cowardly,'' especially when the bipartisan Concord Coalition identified Robb this year in the very top rank of senators who are making the tough decisions to cut the budget deficit. He is one of only four senators to make the Coalition's Honor Roll every year since it began in 1993.
While it's certainly easy to pick out a few votes to make a political point, such an analysis illustrates a lack of understanding of the legislative process. For example, Garland depicts one vote as a vote to use federal funds to recruit people for the Supplemental Security Income program. The amendment was defeated in the Senate because of the belief that it would deny individuals basic information about the program. Garland also fails to tell you that the amendment was also rejected by 12 Republicans, including such ``liberals'' as Sens.Ted Stevens, Richard Lugar and Robert Bennett.
A review of Sen. Robb's entire record shows that he has not only supported budget reforms like a balanced-budget amendment and line-item veto, he's been one of the few Democrats or Republicans willing to address the real cause of our fiscal problems - the explosive growth of entitlement spending. It consumes half our annual budget and eats away at future standards of living by crowding out important investments and adding to the debt.
Although some like to portray it differently, the 1993 budget plan put forward by President Clinton and supported by Robb was an important step in balancing the budget. The plan didn't lead to the recession predicted by Republicans at the time (in fact, it spurred economic growth by reducing interest rates), and has led to cutting the deficit by more than half - from $290 billion in 1992 to $117 billion in 1996. Not a single Republican was willing to take the heat and support that effort.
And while the 1993 plan put us within striking distance of balancing the budget by 2002, there were those who wanted to move us further away from that goal by insisting on a $245 billion tax cut. I think most Virginians understand that fiscal responsibility means balancing the budget before considering a tax cut we cannot afford.
Earlier this year, Sen. Robb helped draft a bipartisan plan dubbed the ``Centrist Coalition'' budget - the only plan in this Congress to receive support from both sides of the aisle. The coalition's budget was more fiscally responsible than either the Republican or administration budgets because it didn't rely on unrealistic spending cuts from some future Congress, and it reigned in future growth of entitlements. Quoting the Republican chairman of the Senate Budget Committee, Sen. Pete Domenici: The plan's supporters had cast a ``courageous vote.''
Unlike Dorothy, we can't click our heels three times and wish the deficit away, and no magical wizard will solve all our fiscal problems. That can only be done by legislators who are committed to making the tough decisions that Sen. Robb has been making throughout his career.
Rob Braziel of Arlington is a legislative assistant to Sen. Charles Robb.
LENGTH: Medium: 63 linesby CNB