WASHINGTON -- No one can accuse the politicians here of failing to be responsive to their constituents. Whether they are responding in a way that makes any sense is, however, another question.
The reaction to the anger shown by the electorate Nov. 8 has been, not to put too fine a point on it, bribery. Republicans and Democrats in Congress are racing with the president to come up with the most politically attractive tax relief for the middle class.
It is quite possible, of course, that there is a sound case for tax reduction right now, although few economists seem to think so. And there clearly is a case for cutting back on some federal spending, even perhaps to the point of eliminating or consolidating some government agencies.
But the rush to give voters instant gratification in the aftermath of the election doesn't create the most auspicious context for making considered decisions on whether, for example, the Department of Energy should be hacked up and parceled out to the Departments of Defense, Agriculture and the Interior.
The imperative here, of course, is for the tax cutters to find places to make reductions in spending to finance the tax relief. After a decade of braying about the long-term damage to the economy and American society in general from the rising federal deficit, the politicians recognize such offsetting reductions are essential even if probably not adequate to do the job.
If you watch carefully, you will find that the measures finally proposed to pay for tax cuts -- whether by President Clinton, House Democratic leader Richard Gephardt or the House Republicans -- will be a mix of cost-cutting in government operations and budget gimmickry. There always seem to be effective dates for spending that can be delayed or estimates of incoming revenues that can be inflated to reach the goal; in this case, $20 billion a year seems to be the figure du jour.
The Republican proposal is more heavily weighted toward the affluent; the Democratic one offered by Gephardt is beamed at working-class voters in a more narrowly defined middle class. These are, after all, essentially political proposals rather than fiscal solutions. That theoretical average family of four would receive about $300 a year in tax reduction.
The rush to assuage the anger of the electorate also seems to mean that the long-term concern over the federal deficit has been put aside once again. There is more than a little irony in the fact that this rush to reduce taxes is being played out at precisely the time the Bipartisan Commission on Entitlements and Tax Reform led by Democratic Sen. Bob Kerrey of Nebraska and Republican Sen. John Danforth of Missouri is going down in flames, its 32 members incapable of finding a consensus on long-term measures to control federal spending.
Everyone in Washington who has studied the deficit problem over the past 15 years has come away with essentially the same ideas that Kerrey and Danforth tried to advance to control these entitlement costs. One is for pushing the normal retirement date for full Social Security from 65 to 70, a change that would yield enormous savings even if phased in over a generation or longer. Another is for some limits on the growth of Medicare. A third would be a more stringent means test in exempting retirees from taxation of their benefits.
But the Kerrey-Danforth plan was smothered in the crib. Labor unions complained about workers having to wait until 70 for full benefits while holding jobs younger workers needed. Black leaders complained that such a change would rob black men of any chance to enjoy their Social Security because their life expectancy is less than 65 years -- a figure obviously skewed by the number of young black men killed on the streets. Lobbyists for the aged complained that they are being victimized once again, although it is hard to remember when that last time might have been.
All in all, it is not a pretty picture. The voters have spoken, and the politicians are rushing to provide a quick fix. Meanwhile, the chances of any serious reform of the nation's financial problems are being frittered away.