Evan Bayh's Budget Hypocrisy

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from The American Prospect:



Evan Bayh's Budget Hypocrisy
What Evan Bayh says he wants out of the budget is less important than how he actually votes.

Ezra Klein | April 6, 2009 | web only


In 1938, the economist Paul Samuelson published his theory of "revealed preference." The concept falls into that elite class of insights so revolutionary that they now appear obvious. Consumer preferences, Samuelson argued, are best determined by consumer behavior. What people say or think they want is less important than what they actually buy.

A similar theory holds true for politicians. What politicians say or think they want is less important than how they actually vote. For instance, Sen. Evan Bayh cast a difficult vote against Obama's first budget, and he also released an appropriately tortured statement along with it. "This budget," he said, "represents an improvement from years past … money we will borrow will fund important priorities like affordable health care, energy independence, job creation, and education improvements, rather than tax cuts for the most affluent." Sadly, Bayh continued, he could not support it: "Under this budget, our national debt skyrockets from $11.1 trillion today to an estimated $17 trillion in 2014."

Bayh's expressed preferences were clear. National debt reduction was of paramount importance. Below that were such priorities as "affordable health care, energy independence, job creation, and education improvements." And below that were "tax cuts for the most affluent."

His revealed preferences -- as shown by the fate of two tax changes that came before budget vote -- told another story.

The first tax change was built into the health reform reserve fund included in Obama's initial budget. Currently, Americans making more than $250,000 a year can claim a 35 percent subsidy on deductible expenses. Obama proposed to limit that to 28 percent. Lower, yes, but still much higher than the 10 percent to 15 percent available to most Americans. The tax change would have affected only 1.4 percent of households and raised more than $300 billion for health-care reform. It would not have raised the national debt by even $1. ........(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.prospect.org/cs/articles?article=evan_bayhs_budget_hypocrisy