Duo both fear red ink

WASHINGTON — Utah is the reddest of red states, one that takes pride in its fiscal responsibility and balanced budgets.

But it seems Congress is more about red ink these days, and that has two Utah congressmen — Rep. Rob Bishop, a Republican who sides with the conservative wing of the GOP, and Rep. Jim Matheson, a Blue Dog Democrat — singing from the same hymn book.

"It's a very major problem for conservatives in the House," Bishop said. "The last I heard, the (deficit) numbers may be changing. They may actually be bigger than they appear. Whatever they are, if (the deficit) is even one dollar it is too much."

According to the Congressional Budget Office, the federal budget deficit is projected to be $422 billion. But that number does not include the cost of the war in Iraq, which is funded separately, or the cost of Social Security reform proposed by President Bush, because those changes have not yet been enacted.

Nor does it take into account legislation that takes effect this year that reduces the flow of revenue to the government.

"There is no question that the rate of spending has gone up far above the rate of inflation," said Matheson, administration chair-

man for the Blue Dog Coalition of fiscally conservative Democrats. "What concerns me is the lack of willingness (in Congress) to offer any solutions to turn it around."

Democrats, because they are in the minority, can safely sit on the sidelines and take shots at majority Republicans' spending habits. It's what the minority party has always done and it is expected.

But the sidelines are increasingly crowded with conservative Republicans who share the belief that spending has to be reined in.

Bishop, a veteran of the Utah Legislature where lawmakers were required to balance the budget every year, is chagrined by the red ink, but he is also pragmatic. Some of the deficit is caused by federal entitlement programs with built-in increases that have to be funded. Some of it is the post 9/11 security climate and the funding of anti-terrorism efforts at home and abroad.

"No one thinks (we) can balance the budget this year, but there is deep sentiment that we are spending too much and we need to start moving in the direction of turning it around," Bishop said. "We kept entitlement spending to 1 percent growth last time, so we know we can do it."

But do lawmakers have the will? Matheson and Bishop have their doubts, although both hinted that a bipartisan effort could put the heat on leadership in both parties to at least move the deficit discussion to the top of the priority list.