Nothing Left To Cut? Asks Veronique de Rugy
In September 2013, as Capitol Hill was bracing for a government shutdown over fiscal disagreements, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) declared that the $3.7 trillion federal budget had already been cut to the bone. "The cupboard is bare. There's no more cuts to make. It's really important that people understand that," Pelosi said in an interview on CNN. "We cannot have cuts just for the sake of cuts." Modern Democrats do not have the will to shrink the federal waistline, writes Veronique de Rugy. Sadly, modern Republicans are little better: Despite paying lip service to balanced budgets, the elephants of the Grand Old Party are too often just as gluttonous as their opponents, and averse to naming specific programs that deserve the ax.