WASHINGTON -- As Republicans rush to make amends for a slow initial response to Hurricane Katrina by doling out billions of dollars in aid, GOP leaders in the process are angering their core supporters and dividing their members in Congress by greatly expanding the federal deficit.
The $62.3 billion that Congress approved for hurricane relief in the last week, with much more to come, is an enormous, unforeseen boost in federal spending, and so far there has been no effort to make comparable cuts in spending elsewhere.
In closed-door meetings, fiscal conservatives have begged their colleagues not to put the cost of disaster relief on the government credit card for future generations to carry.
Among those who have protested in these private sessions is Rep. Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.), a fiscal conservative who said his colleagues greeted his suggestion that disaster relief be offset by other cuts with "stone cold silence." He added,
"You would have thought I was a Martian."More ...
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/chi-0509120138sep12,1,736945.story?coll=chi-newsnationworld-hed&ctrack=1&cset=true
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