LATEST BUDGET DEAL SHOWS MEMBERS OF CONGRESS ARE THE PROBLEM: Ever since the Gramm-Rudman Act of 1985 was promised to impound all spending above authorized limits, Congress and chief executives have relied on budget agreements that make token cuts in the year of passage, promise much bigger cuts in the “out years” and provides a “sequestration process” for enforcement.

But the out year reductions never come because succeeding congresses can’t resist boosting the spending caps. The R Street Institute’s James Wallner goes through the dreary succession since Reagan’s second term and concludes:

“All of which suggests procedural solutions alone are insufficient when lawmakers do not want to abide by them. If Congress wants to spend more than the law permits, it will.” That applies to members of both major political parties.