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Drawing the line
Fiscally responsible lawmakers have been drawing the line by opposing reckless congressional bipartisan spending that, no matter how liberal, President George W. Bush signs into law.
The public policy think tank rightly demands that today's wanton wastrels also become fiscally responsible by drawing that same line on spending.
Congressional spendthrifts must stop pork-barrel spending innocuously called "earmarks" that attach to other bills like parasites to a host. The recent highway bill had more than 6,000 pieces of pork -- trails for pedestrians, bikes and horses, trolley cars, parking garages and a $220 million bridge for a 50-person village in Alaska -- costing $25 billion.
Congress also must call a halt to gross overspending "add-ons" for entitlement programs such as Social Security and Medicare that only should be for the truly needy.
And Mr. Bush must draw the line with his veto and bully pulpit to do what Congress and he have failed to do -- just say no to excess.
The few grains in the upper chamber of the hourglass suggest there's precious little time before future generations must be impressed to pay for the merciless excesses of their potential oppressors.
