Post-Hurricane:
Congressional
Conservatives
Eye
Cuts
in
Anti-Drug
Spending
to
Pay
for
Katrina
Relief
--
Reformers
Clamor
for
More
10/21/05
With the US federal budget drowning in a sea of red ink and buffeted by demands for more spending to rebuild the hurricane-battered Gulf Coast, Congress this week is eying budget cuts to partially make up the difference, and some Republican conservatives are putting previously untouchable drug war programs on the cutting block. Drug reformers are applauding the idea, but calling for more, deeper cuts in the anti-drug budget. Late last month, a group of small government congressional conservatives known as the Republican Study Committee proposed budget cuts or "offsets," to make up for massive federal spending increases necessitated by Hurricane Katrina. Led by Rep. Mike Pence (R-IN), the 86-member committee largely aimed its belt-tightening proposal, known as Operation Offset, at traditional conservative targets such as Medicare, federal funding for energy conservation and research, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, the National Endowment for the Humanities, school lunch programs, community health centers, and pension and health benefits for retired federal workers. But this time the conservatives are also calling for the elimination of the Office of National Drug Control Policy's much criticized media program aimed at preventing teen drug use, the Safe and Drug-Free Schools program, and the High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area (HIDTA) program (the Bush administration axed it and the Byrne law enforcement assistance program from this year's federal budget, although a battle is brewing to keep those line items intact), and capping funding for Plan Colombia, or the Andean Regional Initiative, as it is currently known, at current levels. The drug budget cuts called for by the Republican Study Committee would save $8.4 billion over the next 10 years, a move welcomed by the Drug Policy Alliance, a group that has been cultivating fiscal conservatives as part of its overall effort to rein in the drug war. "We've finally seen a push by the GOP to return to their fiscally conservative roots and eliminate wasteful drug war programs that are neither working nor effective," said Ken Collins, DPA deputy director of national affairs (and former communications director for Rep. Pence). "While there are a number of suggested cuts where we don't see eye-to-eye, we are in total agreement when it comes to cutting the wasteful and ineffective anti-drug programs," added Collins. But the conservatives should go even further, DPA argues. The group is calling on the Congress to approve the drug budget cuts and then some. Congress should approve the Bush administration's bush to cut the Byrne grant program, which goes to fund local anti-drug task forces across the country, DPA said. Doing so would save the taxpayers $8 billion over the next 10 years. And while the congressional conservatives called for capping or "leveling" spending on the Andean initiative, DPA is calling for its elimination. That's another $7 billion saved over the next decade. Under the DPA proposal, savings would nearly triple from the conservatives' $8.4 billion to $22 billion over the next 10 years. Citing an Office of Management and Budget review that found the federal drug control programs ineffectual, DPA said now is the time to get serious about cutting the drug budget. "If ever there were a time to cut the drug war budget, this is it. We agree with OMB. It's just about impossible to find a drug war program that's worth a dime. Yet Congress insists on flushing billions down the drug war drain," said Bill Piper, DPA director of national affairs. "Our elected officials have an obligation to find the money to fund relief for Americans affected by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, and especially to assist those most in need. One clear way to do this is to eliminate ineffective drug war programs." Let's see if Congress is listening.
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