Voinovich stands up to Bush

Ohio Sen George Voinovich realizes that reckless spending + making reckless tax cuts permanent = recipe for disaster:

Voinovich said Wednesday he has put the Bush administration on notice that he won't support making the tax cuts passed during the president's first term permanent unless another source of revenue is found to pay for them or they are offset with cuts in spending.

"I made it pretty clear that if they tried to go permanent on these things that I would not support the budget," the Cleveland Republican said.

The proposed budget that President Bush sent to Congress this week calls for making the tax cuts passed in 2001 and 2003 permanent, a move that analysts predict would cut revenues by more than $1 trillion. All of the tax cuts are scheduled to expire by 2011.

Senate Republican leaders have embraced the president's call for permanently extending the tax cuts.

But Voinovich, who forced the administration to accept a smaller tax-cut package than it wanted two years ago, said he fears that making the cuts permanent would increase the size of the federal deficit. The deficit is projected to top $427 billion this year.

Now isn't the time to consider making the tax cuts permanent, given the uncertainty caused by the war in Iraq, the cost of prescription drug benefits and the looming fight over Social Security, Voinovich said.

It's always nice to see a Republican voice of reason. We'll see who, if any, will follow Voinovich's lead.