Discontent rises over out-of-control government spending.

In fact, frustrations can even be detected in our nation's capital. Now that's saying something, and might even be a bit unnerving to some.

The federal government's response to Hurricane Katrina, along with the subsequent Hurricane Rita, has been to throw around tens of billions of taxpayer dollars, with promises of lots more money to follow. The eventual tab could top $200 billion. In addition, President George W. Bush and many in Congress seek to grab more future responsibilities during catastrophes like this. They are establishing costly precedents for federal taxpayers with every imaginable natural disaster hereafter.

State and local officials are being encouraged to dream up all kinds of ways to spend taxpayer dollars in the wake of these hurricanes, and of course, when it comes to free money from Washington, they're bound to get quite creative. And it's not just in the stricken Gulf States where money would be doled out. For example, handouts are sought for farmers and ranchers in other parts of the nation not even sprinkled by showers left over from Katrina.

Then there's FEMA's disconcerting plan to reimburse, with taxpayer dollars, some churches and other religious groups that have provided shelter, food and supplies, as reported in the Washington Post on September 27. So much for private charity. Think about the message being sent to those who donated dollars and volunteered time to religious groups to help victims. Will they think twice next time before opening up their checkbooks if the government stands willing to provide such handouts? For good measure, what about the inevitable strings that come with federal monies?

The FEMA reimbursement idea is a glaring example of the haphazard, ill-planned way in which government is throwing around taxpayer dollars in the aftermath of this tragedy. Get ready for the voluminous reports and investigations down the road about how much of this money was wasted and abused.

At the same time, efforts to act in a fiscally responsible way by finding spending cuts to offset hurricane-related outlays have generated minimal interest beyond a minority of lawmakers.

Some have thought over the years that Republicans were for limited government. But little evidence can be found today of such principles. Unfortunately, though, this is not too surprising. Since taking over both the White House and Congress, Republicans have been on a spending binge.

Consider that total outlays grew by an annual average of 7.1% from fiscal year 2002 through fiscal year 2004. That was more than three times the rate of inflation.

But that was all about the war, right? Well, let's factor out spending on national defense. Spending minus defense increased by an average rate of 5.6% over this period, still more than two-and-one-half times the rate of inflation.

What about the current fiscal year, which comes to a close at the end of this month? According to CBO numbers through the first eleven months, the big spending trend continues. Total spending was up by 6.9%, and non-defense outlays by 6.7% -- again, way ahead of inflation.

Such waste is itself bad for the economy. But there are additional negatives. Most glaring, this spending juggernaut threatens to flatten the effort to make permanent the 2001 and 2003 tax cuts that have done so much good for the economy. The last thing this economy needs are looming, major tax increases, but chances are increasing as various Democrats have voiced support for these tax hikes while a few Republicans seem to be going wobbly as well.

True fiscal responsibility is not about raising taxes to pay for profligate spending. Instead, it's about reducing the size of government so people can keep more of their own hard-earned money. Unfortunately, neither party in Washington now embraces such fiscal responsibility. Taxpayers are not and should not be pleased.

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This column may be reprinted with appropriate credit.
 

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Raymond J. Keating is chief economist for the Small Business & Entrepreneurship Council.