John Boehner, September 23, 2005

Another storm is brewing, but this one isn’t off the gulf coast -- it’s in the halls of Washington, D.C. The enormous financial response that may be required to cope with the aftermath of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita has set off alarms all across official Washington and the biggest question on everyone’s mind is: how are we going to pay for it?

The initial emergency aid packages approved by Congress provided more than $60 billion to the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). As of this writing FEMA has spent $15 billion of it -- meaning there’s $45 billion left to provide disaster relief, recovery, and rebuilding in the Gulf Coast region. If we work to implement the right accountability measures, that money should go far.

Still, many predict that billions more will be needed (some say upwards of $200 billion). With entitlement spending through the roof, the ongoing War on Terror, and other commitments eating up the budget, where will the money come from?

First things first: raising taxes is not the answer. Uncle Sam’s problem isn’t that he has too little money; it’s that he isn’t spending responsibly. Some have suggested repealing the tax cuts of recent years -- since this is the same thing as a tax increase, it simply won’t do.

The tax cuts led to the creation of 4.2 million new jobs in the two years prior to Hurricane Katrina. They have driven the American economy through rough times and, believe it or not, have actually increased the revenue of the federal government. Repealing them would slow economic growth and hurt small business owners -- the very people who will create the jobs displaced workers from the Gulf Coast region will fill.

For example, repealing the tax cuts would decrease (by $75,000!) the amount of new equipment and technology expenses a small business could deduct from its federal taxes. This is no way to spur an economy.

And what would repealing the tax cuts mean for the Buckeye State? More than 3 million married couples and single filers in the 10% bracket would find themselves paying a dramatically higher income tax. More than 1.3 million married couples would lose their marriage penalty relief. And nearly a million Ohioans who benefit from the current $1,000 child tax credit would see that reduced to $600 -- an increase in their tax burden of $400 (per child).

The last thing we should do is pull the rug out from under everyone by making them fork over more money to Washington.

So if raising taxes is a nonstarter, where should we begin? I think a good place to start would be to reopen the highway bill signed into law last month.

This bill -- which is supposed to improve the interstate highway system -- has roughly 6,000 pet projects buried in it that have nothing to do with highways. Taxpayers are coughing up billions for everything from landscaping to water taxis to visitor centers. There’s a $250 million "bridge to nowhere" in Alaska; $6 million for a government program to encourage people to ride bikes; $5 million for trails in Oregon; and $2.5 million for "freeway landscaping" in California.

If you ask me, this pork money -- nearly $25 billion - would be far better spent helping those whose lives have been shattered by the hurricanes.

Of course, that only gets us part of the way there. As the storm clouds gather we should be mindful of our real priorities. Congress needs to steady itself and focus on ways to cut spending. We should also work to find savings by making existing federal programs, like Social Security, more efficient. We were elected to make tough choices. We have a lot of them ahead, and we mustn’t be afraid to tackle them head on.

Congressman John Boehner, a Republican, represents Ohio's Eighth Congressional District, which includes Miami, Butler, Preble, Darke, and Mercer Counties.