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Spending shouldn't be choice for surplus

An unknown, but very wise, man once quipped about the origins of the word politics: "Poli" comes from the ancient Greek, meaning "many," and "tics" are blood-sucking parasites. Well, politics is on full display in all its disgrace in the ongoing debate about what to do with a growing federal budget surplus.

According to the latest U.S. Treasury figures, the federal government will collect during the next 10 years $1.9 trillion more than even President Clinton and Congress figured on spending.

Clinton's opening bid on what to do with the surplus: If Republicans spend many tens of billions on a prescription drug benefit for Medicare that would be unsustainable through Medicare taxes, he'll succumb to a couple of billion dollars worth of relief from the income tax "marriage penalty" for some, but not all, married taxpayers.

Republicans have their own designs on the surplus cash. A spokesman for Texas Gov. George W. Bush, for instance, says "a portion of that money" should be returned to taxpayers.

So here's the grand difference between the parties regarding the surplus: Clinton and the Democrats would keep almost all of the surplus to spend, and Republicans would keep just a little bit less.

All this seems like getting refused proper change back from a $20 bill for a cup of coffee. The clerk would like some new Levis, or lunch money or something. But just because you handed over too much money, don't expect anything back.

There should be but two uses for any budget surplus, and only two: Pay down national debt, and return excess tax revenue to the people who earned the money in the first place. If government is collecting far more than it needs under the current tax regime, then it's time to get rid of some taxes. The death tax, marriage penalty, myriad excise taxes probably could go on the chopping block, and income tax rates might easily be reduced.

But remember the origins of politics. Politicians can no more resist the temptation to keep tax money to spend on their political hobbies than a tic can resist the blood of a deer.